


Perfect

by treasonlikebeauty



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Demisexuality, M/M, brief mention of domestic abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 16:14:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8720362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treasonlikebeauty/pseuds/treasonlikebeauty
Summary: A series of events each more unlikely than the last throws Terushima Yuuji unexpectedly into the life of one Hinata Shouyou. And not just his life, but his second bedroom. They're such an unlikely pair, surely their relationship with never go beyond friendly roommates. Right?Or, stripper Terushima, demisexual Hinata, and a barber shop (a barber shop+) called Salon Karasuno.





	1. Terushima

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Hinata Rare Pair Week 2, Day 1. Prompts used were: **Domestic** and **“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” -Cool Hand Luke, 1967** (also included are nods to **[Pantone 705 U](https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/705-U)** , and **Somewhere Over the Rainbow** )
> 
> With depressing predictability, I started these stories a little on the late side. Early enough I could have written them if they’d stayed in the 5-7k range like they were supposed to. Fuck knows why I thought that would happen. So here’s what ballooned into 20k of dangerously unedited fic. I hate to put it up here in this condition, but 20k just seemed too long to read on tumblr. Eventually I will get this betaed properly and edit this document. In the meantime, plot holes, typos, and all manner of beasties may lurk within. Be brave, traveler. Because there’s also stripper!Terushima!
> 
> Oh, and for reference near the end of chapter two: [‘Orbit’ by Jonghyun](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghQvv2PF-w8).

Terushima looked down at the piece of paper in his hand, then back up at the shop in front of him. The name was right, and the address was right, but it… wasn’t exactly what he’d been expecting.

When circumstances had dumped him on the street with no money and few options, he spent a couple months in the underground fighting circuit. One night a spectator approached him after the fight and offered him a position as a ‘waiter’ (more like enforcer) at a local strip theater. He jumped at the chance and thanked her profusely. But he just about had a heart attack his first day when he discovered that the theater catered to a slightly different clientele than he’d anticipated: all the dancers were male. He couldn’t help but side-eye his manager, wondering if he’d been scouted under slightly false pretenses. But all he got in response was a flat stare, so he dismissed it.

That said, as the weeks passed, he started to wonder if maybe dismissing it had been the wrong move. While he made enough money to get by as part of the staff, he couldn't help but notice how much cash the performers walked away with.

It took him a while, but eventually he approached his manager about it. The woman gave him an assessing glance, then nodded. “Maybe. You'll have to talk to the boss.”

“When can I—”

“Come in half an hour early tomorrow.”

The next day, when he was shown into the head office, he couldn’t help a small bout of nerves. The theater’s proprietor was seated behind a massive, gleaming desk of glass and chrome, her assistant (or at least that’s what everyone called her, but Terushima had seen the blonde’s mean right hook) standing at her shoulder. He shuffled his feet for a moment, then stood firm and bowed deeply. “Shimizu-sama, thank you for seeing me. I—”

“Stand up straight,” she interrupted, and he did so. “Clothes off.”

He obediently began stripping. “Er, everything?”

She just watched him impassively.

“Right.”

When he was bare, he wasn’t nearly as self-conscious as he could have been. He didn’t consider himself anything remarkable, but he knew he had a good body. He’d worked for it. Fought for it, literally.

“Spin.”

He obediently turned in a circle.

“That’s a lot of scars,” Shimizu commented.

Terushima just nodded.

“We can work with that.” She tilted her head to one side. “Stay after your shift tonight. A body is nothing if you can’t move.”

Terushima nodded. “Yes ma’am.” He glanced at his discarded clothing. “Uh, can I…” he waved a hand toward the pile.

One corner of Shimizu’s mouth turned up. “Certainly. We wouldn’t want anyone who cares getting a look at the goods just yet, now would we?”

Terushima glanced back and forth between the two women, and everything suddenly made a lot more sense. He dressed quickly and after another deep bow, left the room. Misaki was waiting outside, and she raised an eyebrow. Terushima grinned. “She wants to see how I move.”

His shift passed in a blur. As, honestly, did the audition. Slow rhythm, deep vocals, and he put every bit of his athleticism to good use.

At the end, Shimizu turned her head slightly to her assistant and said, “Hitoka, what costumes do we have in stock to fit him?”

Yachi tapped a finger against her lips and gave Terushima an appraising once-over. “You’re what… 180cm, 78kg?”

Terushima startled slightly. “Uh, yeah. Well, 180.4cm”

Yachi hid a small laugh in a cough. “I think we might have a volleyball boy in his size if he can manage a group number. As for proper cosplay… hm, with a wig, he’d look alright as that Russian from the skating one. Got the right body for it.”

Shimizu nodded. “Good,” she said softly, then raised her voice to address Terushima. “You’ll have a week to practice, then we’ll try you in the early show. But first, there are some grooming issues to take care of.”

And that is what brought Terushima to the here and now, looking up at Salon Karasuno. Apparently if he was going to make it in this business, he needed, um, ‘cleaning up’ downstairs.

Under the circumstances, it had seemed reasonable to expect something a bit… well… shady. But the view through the wide window was of, well, exactly what it said on the tin: a hair salon. He shrugged and headed inside.

Across from the entrance was a small reception desk, where a man with a wild shock of orange hair was sitting. When he heard the door open, he looked up at Terushima with a sunny grin and chirped, “Welcome to Salon Karasuno! What can we help you with today?” Before Terushima could reply, the receptionist clucked his tongue. “Oh, I see. Yeah, that is a pretty high maintenance cut. Hard to keep the back and sides even on your own without accidentally shaving off bits of the top! Quick and easy for us, though!” The man spun to face the body of the salon and called out, “Hey, Daichi, can you—”

“No, wait,” Terushima interjected. “Not here for my hair. Or, uh, not that hair.”

The receptionist blinked, glanced at his computer, and then his mouth formed a small ‘o’. “Terushima-san, I presume?” Terushima nodded, and the receptionist gave him another bright smile. “ID, please. And your manager should have provided you with a card?”

Terushima pulled both items from his wallet and slid them across the counter. As the receptionist compared each to whatever he was reading on his monitor, Terushima idly studied him. The bright orange hair was certainly distracting, but when you stopped to notice, the man underneath it was fucking adorable.

Terushima hadn’t gotten much further than that when the receptionist slid his ID back across the counter and said, “Everything is in order! And I am sorry I didn’t spot you immediately—you’re a little early, is all.”  He picked up the phone behind the desk and pressed a few buttons. Terushima could hear the faint sounds of someone’s voice on the line, but couldn’t make out anything they were saying. He just heard the receptionist’s, “Yeah. … I know. … Not THAT early, jeeze, Tsukki. … Okay, I will.” He hung up the phone and then looked back up at Terushima and rolled his eyes. “Don’t mind his attitude. Suga’s a sweetheart, but Tsukki… Well, all that really matters is that he’s very good at his job.”

Terushima snorted. “He better be.”

“Ooohh, first timer,” the receptionist cooed. He looked Terushima up and down. “Eh, I say you’ll take it like a champ.”

“Here’s hoping.”

The receptionist grinned. “I have an eye for it. As a matter of fact—”

But before Terushima got to hear the rest of the sentence, a door at the back of the salon marked ‘STORAGE’ banged open and an exceptionally tall blond stuck his head out and scanned the salon. When his eyes landed on Terushima, he nodded once. “Come with me.”

Terushima leaned over the desk just long enough to say, “Hope you bet on the right horse,” then winked and headed toward the back.

The receptionist laughed and said loudly, “Horse, huh? Someone thinks a lot of himself,” getting chuckles from around the salon, but the loudest laugh from Terushima himself.

He was led through what legitimately was a storage closet, then down a hallway and through the second door on the left. Terushima wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, and honestly didn’t know whether or not this was it. The room was small but not cramped, with a padded table in the center, a shelving unit against the back wall, and some sort of rolling workstation. The lights were dim but not dark, and there was a lamp on the workstation that Terushima could only assume would be extremely bright.

He was pulled from his observations by ‘Tsukki’ clearing his throat. “I’m Tsukishima,” he said. “Put your clothes on the top shelf there, then lay on the table however you’re comfortable, and drape the towel over your lap. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Terushima did as he’d been bid, then just stared up at the ceiling, feeling a little ridiculous.

Not more than a minute passed before there was a knock on the door, and Terushima called out, “Yep, I’m good!”

Tsukishima pulled the workstation up to the side of the table and pulled on a pair of nitrile gloves. “Just so you know, it’s not weird if you get hard, and it’s not weird if you don’t,” he said, sounding bored. “And I don’t give a fuck.”

Terushima snorted. “With a bedside manner like that, you should have been a doctor.”

Tsukishima didn’t react. “I considered it.”

Terushima did a double-take. “Wait, for real?”

Tsukishima nodded and lifted the towel. “Life is, as they say, what happens while you’re busy making other plans.”

Terushima felt the words like a punch to the gut. After a beat of silence just a little too long, he swallowed and said, “Yeah, I know a little about that myself.”

“Don’t we all.” Tsukishima tested the temperature of the wax on the inside of his wrist. “You’ve got a pretty simple growth pattern, this shouldn’t take long.” He smirked. “And don’t worry, I won’t judge you if you yell.”

“I am no stranger to pain, I think I can—FUCK!” He pressed a hand to his face. “Okay, yes, that hurts. Just a different sort of pain than I’m used to.”

Tsukishima paused. “Alright to keep going?”

Terushima exhaled slowly. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“Most of our clients find that conversation helps. Anything in particular you’d like to talk about?”

“Not real—oh actually, yeah. What’s the story with that fuckin’ cutie behind the desk?”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. “I swear to god, at least sixty percent of you ask that.”

Terushima grinned. “Hey man, cover like that, people want to know what’s in the book.”

Grabbing a pair of tweezers, Tsukishima sighed. “You’re barking up the wrong tree, anyway.”

Terushima blinked in surprise. “He’s straight?”

“Is that what I said?” Tsukishima asked waspishly. “I just know he’s not what you’re looking for.”

Terushima frowned. “Dude, you don’t know what I’m looking for. C’mon, just give me a name?”

“You’ll have to ask him for that,” Tsukishima said with a light push to Terushima’s right knee. “Turn this leg out.”

“Put in a good word for me, at the least?”

Tsukishima sighed. “We’ll see. Other leg.” He pulled the light closer. “So what is it? Porn? Soapland? What?”

Terushima choked. “Jesus. Uh, strip theater. I’ve been working there for a while as a waiter. And bouncer when gaijin get let in.”

Tsukishima nodded. “I see. Well, I get the switch. There’s more money in dancing than people think. And you’re certainly fit.” He tapped Terushima’s ankle. “Knees up to your chest.”

“Sooo….” Terushima wheeled, “what news of me gets passed on to the front desk?”

Tsukishima squeezed something from a bottle onto his gloves and spread it efficiently over Terushima’s skin. “News of your admiration.” He dropped the towel back over Terushima’s lap and smirked. “And if you tip me well, maybe a kind word about your equipment. See you out there.”

Terushima laughed.

It didn’t take him long to get dressed, though he was glad he’d taken another dancer’s advice and worn something soft. When he approached the front desk, he had no way of reading the grin on the receptionist’s face. Tsukishima was across the room, quietly conversing with brunet with freckles and long hair that was buzzed off on one side.

When he reached the counter he started to pull out his wallet. “So, what do I owe you?”

“Oh, no, your manager took care of all that,” the receptionist said. “ _Including_ a generous tip for a certain asshole,” he added a bit louder, glaring at Tsukishima, who shrugged unapologetically.

Terushima rolled his eyes. Clearly he was getting nowhere. “Well in that case, I guess  I’ll just see you in… however long it takes for this to grow back. Thanks.” He flipped Tsukishima off—getting an honest smile—and headed for the door.

“Hinata,” the receptionist called after him.

Terushima turned back around, hopeful but a little unsure. “Sorry?”

“Hinata,” the receptionist repeated. “Hinata Shouyou.”

Across the salon a broad-shouldered brunet groaned and handed a few bills to a grinning man with ash blond hair.

Terushima bit his lip to keep from grinning outright and sauntered back to the desk. “Well, Hinata Shouyou, what time do you get off?” Somewhere in the room someone coughed loudly. “Get off work,” Terushima was quick to clarify.

“Nine,” Hinata said with a laugh. “You know that tiny izakaya one street down from the park?” Terushima nodded. “Meet me there about quarter after.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Terushima said with a smile, then turned to face the body of the salon and added, “And I promise to be a perfect gentleman.”

Most of the employees laughed, including Hinata, but he then added, “Gentleman is fine, but don’t be perfect. I think it would be awful to know someone perfect.”

Terushima’s brow wrinkled for the briefest moment, but then he just gave Hinata another grin. “Duly noted. No perfection whatsoever.”

When the door swung shut behind him, Terushima shook his head with a smile. Like he’d thought at the beginning: not exactly what he’d been expecting. He checked his watch. Plenty of time to go home, ahem, freshen up, and get back in time to meet Hinata.

He ended up cutting it a little finer than he’d planned, but was relieved to discover he had still beaten Hinata there. Even this late in the day it was warm out, summer heat lingering in the air, so Terushima decided to wait outside. Easier to spot, and he wouldn’t have to make a wrong guess about where Hinata would prefer to sit.

He pulled out his phone and sent a text to his roommate, asking where he was and what he was doing for the night. He was still surprised he hadn’t seen him back at the apartment. Come to think of it, it had actually been a few days since—

“Terushima!”

He turned in the direction of the voice to see Hinata hurriedly approaching from the end of the block, and he waved.

“Sorry I’m a little late,” Hinata said breathlessly once he reached Terushima’s side. “One of the guys had a bit of an incident with a bottle of hair dye. Not my job, I know, but it seemed rude not to help clean up.” He chuckled. “But Kageyama’s going to look like a blueberry for a while.”

Terushima laughed. “Which one was he?”

“Oh he wasn’t in yet.” Hinata rolled his eyes. “You’d know if he was. Very shouty. Excessively shouty, really.” He shrugged, then gestured to the door. “You still hungry and/or thirsty?”

Terushima nodded. “Absolutely.”

He held the door open for Hinata, who led them to the far end of the bar. The shop wasn’t packed, but it was still busy. “Go sit over there,” Hinata said, pointing to the unused end of a long table. “I’ll be there in a sec.”

Terushima did as he was told, albeit with some confusion, and took the seat facing the bar. Hinata rapped on the bar three times and yelled, “Hey, catface! Get out here!”

Almost immediately, there appeared a man whose blond hair—blond with significant roots showing—was pulled into a loose bun. “Hey Shouyou,” he greeted Hinata with one of the tiniest smiles Terushima had ever seen.

“Aw, shit, sorry Kenma. I didn’t mean you. Where’s that loser boyfriend of yours?”

The man—Kenma, apparently—inclined his head back toward the kitchen. “Dealing with Lev. Again.”

Hinata laughed. “Should have guessed.” He turned to face Terushima for a moment. “Terushima! You drink?”

Terushima nodded. “Yeah! A beer would be—”

Hinata had already turned back around. “Shochu for both of us, and… oh hell, you guys know what I like.” He glanced at Terushima for a moment. “And bring him a beer, too.”

Kenma’s eyes flickered over Hinata’s shoulder to Terushima, and he beckoned Hinata closer.

Terushima couldn’t make out what either of them said after that, but it ended with Kenma giving Hinata a single nod, which Terushima decided to take as a good sign. And Hinata’s bright smile definitely helped solidify the feeling.

“So,” Terushima began once Hinata was seated. “What do you do when you’re not directing shady customers through the storage closet?”

Hinata laughed. “I’m at university, actually. The salon is run by some old friends of mine, and they were nice enough to give me a part-time gig. Takes me up a notch from ‘broke and starving student’ to ‘almost broke student.’”

Terushima nodded. “I know what you mean. That shit was a nightmare.”

Hinata blinked a few times, seemingly startled. “Wait, you went to—” he stopped suddenly and shook his head. “Gosh, sorry, that was so rude. I shouldn’t have made assumptions.”

Terushima smiled, albeit a bit crookedly. “Nah, it’s okay. I’d have thought the same thing.”

“What’s your degree in?” Hinata asked.

“Physics. Or well, it was going to be in physics. Didn’t quite get to finish.”

There must have been something in his voice that told Hinata not to press, because he quickly moved on with, “I’m studying mathematics. It wasn’t my intention, but I had this one professor my junior year, and it all just clicked.” He chuckled. “Everybody at the salon was shocked. I was an absolutely _awful_ student in high school.”

Terushima smiled, properly this time. “We were all different in high school. I was such a fucking jackass, it’s amazing any of my friends stuck with me. Though we’ve all spread out a lot, geographically speaking. My roommate is the only friend I have in the city, and I only met him while I was figh… uh, at one of my old jobs. Actually, that reminds me, would you mind if I checked my phone real quick?”

“Go for it.”

Terushima swiped the screen open and frowned. Still nothing.

“Everything okay?” Hinata asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Terushima said. “Just haven’t heard from him in a while, and I’m trying to check in.”

They were interrupted by a tall, slender man with silver hair bringing them a tray. “Hey Hinata!” he said cheerfully.

“Hey Lev. Let me help you with that.” Hinata smoothly began transferring items to the table, only once almost bumping into the waiter’s hands. “What are you doing on tables, anyway?”

Lev pouted. “Kuroo’s mad again. I didn’t even change the recipe that much! And I still think it would have been really good.”

Hinata chuckled. “Don’t worry. I have complete faith that you’ll be a star chef like you want to someday.”

“ _Ace_ chef, Hinata. _Ace_.”

“Ace chef, then.” Hinata glanced at Terushima. “Is there anything in particular you’d like while he’s here?”

“Nah, I’m easy.”

Lev snorted and Hinata rolled his eyes. “Get out of here, you giant.”

Terushima took a long pull from his beer bottle, and once Lev was out of sight, leaned forward slightly. “So I realize this isn’t the most graceful of segues, but seeing as yeah, I am pretty easy—” Hinata choked slightly on his edamame, “—I was wondering about, uh, what Tsukishima meant when he was talking about you.”

Hinata groaned and buried his face in his hands. “That fucking bag of dicks.” He sighed and looked back up at Terushima. “What did he say?”

“Nothing specific, I swear. He was actually pretty damn cagy. Just said I was, ‘barking up the wrong tree,’ but that that maybe didn’t mean you were straight? Sort of? Something like that.”

Hinata rolled his eyes. “I swear I’m going to punch him. Right in the face. Even if I have to stand on a chair to do it.”

Terushima laughed. “He actually seemed fairly protective, as these things go.”

Hinata snorted. “Okay, I’ll just punch him in the stomach.”

“So…” Terushima pressed, “anything you’d care to elaborate on? You definitely don’t have to!” he was quick to add.

“It’s not really…” Hinata sighed again. “Sex just isn’t my thing.”

Terushima cocked his head to one side. “Wait, what?”

Hinata looked uncomfortable. “It’s just not for me.”

“I… uh…” Terushima flickered through a handful of emotions at high speed, then shrugged. “Huh. Okay. Cool.”

Hinata released his bottom lip from between his teeth. “That’s it?”

Terushima nodded. “Well, yeah.”

Tension visibly drained from Hinata’s body. “Great. I mean, uh, thanks.”

“You shouldn’t have to thank me.”

Hinata looked down at his sochu. “This… doesn’t always go so smoothly.”

Terushima’s fists clenched. “Jesus. I’m sorry, man. Anyone you need me to take out?”

Hinata laughed, but the sound was a bit thick. “I’ll think about it.”

After that, it seemed the heavy topics had been aired out for the time being. Hinata teased Terushima about physics only being applied math, which led them to an impassioned but not angry debate about Yang-Mills theory. After fifteen rounds and no decision, they started swapping stories from the salon and the strip theater. They were in turns groaning in horror, and laughing hard enough that Terushima suspected they would have been kicked out if Hinata wasn’t friends with the staff.

Terushima wouldn’t even have realized how much time had passed were it not for the fact that his phone abruptly buzzed twice where it was still resting on the table. Hinata, pink-cheeked and smiling, waved a hand at it. “Go ahead. Maybe it’s your roommate.”

Terushima nodded and reached for the phone, nearly dropping it thanks to his alcohol-clumsy fingers. When he finally got the passcode in and opened the text, the color drained from his face.

Hinata frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s uh… fuck.” He looked back down at the phone. Still the same. “He’s moving out. Or, well, he’s already moved out. Goddamn fucking sonofabitch.” He took a few deep breaths, and ran a hand over his hair. “Okay. Okay. I can… shit.”

“Surely he can’t just _leave_ , he’d be defaulting on the lease!”

Terushima fidgeted. “Well, uh, we don’t exactly have a _lease_ per se. We needed a place to live, and one of our managers offered one.”

“Oh. Shit. When is rent due?”

Terushima leaned down to rest his forehead on the table. “A week. And I don’t have the money to cover it.”

Hinata hummed. “And how much notice do you need to give to move out?”

“Well, none, sort of. I mean, there’s nothing he can legally hold us to. But uh, legal isn’t really his style.” He groaned and sat back up again. “Fuck. What the hell am I gonna do?”

Hinata tapped a finger against his lips. “Hang on.” He pulled out his own phone, and focused intently on it for about a minute. “I am the master of not typing like I’m drunk,” he said as he set it back down.

Terushima. “Wait, what? What are you doin—”

“Oh hush, it’ll be quick.” True enough, his phone chimed only a few seconds later. He picked up the phone and smiled in satisfaction. “Alright. You’ll be out of your not-lease within the hour.”

“Huh? How?!”

Hinata just smiled beatifically. “Let’s just say I know a guy who knows a guy… who happens to be, well, starts with a ‘y,’ ends with a ‘akuza.’”

Terushima choked on nothing at all. Hinata handed him a glass of the water that Kenma had silently provided after one of their rowdier fits of laughter. He took a few sips, then turned to give Hinata an incredulous stare. “You’ve _got_ to be joking.”

Hinata swayed toward him and tapped him on the nose. “I never joke about my friends.”

“Well, if this is really happening, uh, what about my stuff?”

Hinata flapped a hand at him. “Taken care of. Keishi—” he coughed. “My friend’s friend and his… er, friends, are taking everything to my place.”

Things were moving faster than Terushima could process them. “ _Your_ place?”

“What? Do you have somewhere _else_ to go?”

“Well, no, but isn’t this a little… sudden?”

Hinata shrugged. “Eh. You’ve proven you’re not going to be either a creep or an asshole about me and my life, and I know you’re gainfully employed. As long as you do your share of the chores, what more do I really need out of a roommate?”

“Yeah of course I will, but, do you have the space?”

“Yep! Or well, I will by the time we get there. I had a roommate a while back, he left for a study abroad and never came back. I’d have been pissed, but he sent enough money to cover his part of the rent for the rest of the lease.”

“Damn. Any idea what happened?”

Hinata shrugged. “He didn’t say. But I mean, he was pretty, as far as that goes, and mentioned someone named ‘Hajime’ in passing. So I’m guessing he found himself a sugar daddy.” Terushima snorted and Hinata just grinned. “Honestly? It suits him. It’s not that he isn’t intelligent, he just… hm. I guess I’d say an alternate environment would suit him better than academia did. Anyway, most of his stuff is still in his room. I offered to ship it all, but he only wanted a few things.” He grabbed his phone and sent off another message or two. “I’ll have them leave it for now, you might want some of it. The dude had a great mattress.”

Terushima blinked, opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. He downed the last of his (sixth?) beer, and reached out to pat Hinata’s hand. “Thank you. Thank you so fucking much.” He started patting his pockets, searching for his wallet. “Let me get this,” he said, tapping the nearest dish.

“Oh, there’s no need for that,” Hinata waved him off.

“No really, it’s the least I can do, I—”

“No, I meant that literally,” Hinata. “I eat and drink free.”

Terushima goggled at him. “What?! How did you swing _that_?”

“Saved the owner’s life.”

Terushima laughed. “No, c’mon, how’d you really…” he suddenly noticed Hinata wasn’t laughing. “Dude! For real?!”

Hinata’s gaze drifted somewhere to his left. “Yeah,” he said softly. He smiled and shrugged. “Everybody’s got a backstory.”

It was Terushima’s turn to look away. “Yeah,” he repeated. “I guess they do.”

“So, you about ready to check out the new digs?” Hinata asked.

“Absolutely.” Terushima stood up, only wobbling a little.

“Great!” Hinata rose to join him, steady as a rock. “Just let me say goodbye real quick, and then we can get going!”

Terushima helped carry their various dishes back to the bar, then wandered toward the door while Hinata had a quick word with his friends. There seemed to be some rather feverish discussion going on, which Terushima was still sober enough to realize was surely about him. But he was also drunk enough for it not to concern him all that much. He was sure Hinata meant what he said, and he didn’t seem like the type of guy who’d change his mind once it was made up.

Sure enough, after a minute or two Hinata joined him with a smile, and led the way out of the izakaya.

“So where exactly _is_ your place?” Terushima asked as Hinata led them confidently down the street.

“Oh, right,” Hinata said with a laugh. “Um, do you have change, or an IC card?”

“Yeah, I’ve got some change.”

“Mmkay. It’s not so far we _couldn’t_ walk, but…” Hinata trailed off, hummed, then continued, “You know, if we _do_ walk, your things should be there by the time we get home.”

“When we get home, huh?” Terushima asked, lightly bumping his shoulder against Hinata’s.

Hinata bumped him back. “Of course! Now it’s your home, too.”

The walk was about forty minutes all told, and when they arrived, the building was neither better nor worse than Terushima had expected. University living, after all. They were on the third floor, facing north.

“I hope you like it alright,” Hinata said as he searched for his keys. “Under the circumstances I think it’s a decent size, but—” he unlocked the door, “I never really know how it will look to other people.”

Terushima walked through the door after Hinata. “I’m sure it’ll be—whoa.”

Hinata looked around the kitchen/living space in alarm. “What? Is something wrong? Oh god you hate it.”

“No! No, not at all, I swear.” Terushima waved a hand around the space, wide-eyed. “It’s just… uh…”

Hinata looked around. “It’s… oh! Oh, right.” He smiled sheepishly. “I guess I should have warned you about the color.”

Terushima swallowed. “It is just… very, _very_ pink.”

“Er, yeah.”

“Did you…”

“Oh _god_ no. No. It was like this when we moved in. The landlord said she’d hire painters if we wanted to pay for it, but _that’s_ clearly not happening any time soon.” Hinata shrugged. “You get used to it. Sort of.”

Terushima laughed. “I’m afraid to ask, but… are the bedrooms the same?”

“No, thank goodness. Mine’s yellow. Yours is green. The bathroom’s a sort of purpleish blue. And none of them are pastel.” He glared at the walls. “We’ve got more than enough of that out here.”

“Jesus.” Terushima said with a huff of laughter. “Who the hell did the previous tenants pay off? What happened to taupe?”

“Right?!”

Relegating any further consideration of the walls to the back of his mind, Terushima took another look around. “Oh!” He pointed at the neat stack of boxes against the wall. “Mine, I assume?”

“Yep!” Hinata pulled out his phone. “Oh, looks like they just trashed your bed, man. Hope that’s okay. And…” he scrolled down the screen. “You’re dresser is in your room, and your—” he spun to face the living room, “—that is a very nice tower you’ve got there. Dang.”

“Built her myself. Best of the best. Only thing I own with any significant financial value.” A shadow crossed Hinata’s face and Terushima was quick to continue, “Just the way I like it. Learned the hard way that possessions aren’t the key to happiness. But of course,” he said in a lighter voice, “happiness without a damn good build is nearly impossible.”

Hinata laughed. “So true. Need help moving it to your room?” The question was clearly a bit reluctant, as Hinata was still making eyes at the tower.

“First rule, man. Never build a machine you can’t carry. But uh…” Terushima bit back a grin. “Might as well just hook it up to the TV out here, right? Keyboard and mouse are wireless, so no trouble with cables or whatever.”

“Are you sure?” Hinata asked hopefully.

“Oh yeah,” Terushima said, still keeping his face neutral. “My monitor’s shit anyway.” It wasn’t, of course, but it was worth it to see how excited Hinata got.

“Oh my gosh, that’ll be so great!” Hinata was nearly bouncing. “My laptop can barely stream video anymore, never mind trying to doing _any_ sort of gaming. I mean I’ve got my shitty old PS2, but in general console gaming take more money and you can’t play anything away from home, and besides—” he caught sight of Terushima’s now-unabashed grin and broke off with a smile of his own. “Heh, sorry. You know what I mean.”

“I do,” Terushima said, still grinning.

They stood there smiling at each other like idiots for several moments, then Hinata cleared his throat and clapped his hands together. “So! Boxes! Assistance?”

“Nah, thanks though. I think I’m just—”

“Are you sure?” Hinata interrupted, sounding concerned. “I’m happy to help, and I don’t have class until…” he looked at his phone, “Damn, is it really that late?” He shook himself. “But that’s fine! I can definitely still help—”

“Take it easy. I was about to say that I’m just going to go to bed. Deal with it tomorrow.”

“Oh. Oh! Cool. That’s… cool. Okay. I’ll be… yeah. Night stuff, uh, there are a couple new toothbrushes in the third drawer, and uh, Oikawa’s towel is in his, er, your, room. Sheets, too. I washed everything, but it’s all still in a pile. Is that okay?”

Terushima just stood there, looking at Hinata and swaying slightly. This goddamn human ball of sunshine. He took the three strides he needed to reach him and engulfed Hinata in a hug. “’Is that okay?’ You idiot.” he huffed quietly, and squeezed Hinata tighter. “Thank you. Thank you so damn much.” He grinned when he felt Hinata’s arms circle his waist.

“I’m glad I could help.” Hinata squeezed him once then took a step back. “Sleep well, okay?”

Terushima nodded. “I will.” Hinata padded away toward his room, but just before he disappeared inside, Terushima called out, “I’ll be the perfect roommate, I swear.”

Hinata paused, and turned around. “Well now you’re just being silly. You know how I feel about perfect.”

Terushima laughed. “Oh that’s right. It’d be… what was it you said?”

“Awful. Absolutely awful,” Hinata said with a smile. “Good night, Terushima.”

“Goodnight, Hinata.”

Terushima went to inspect his room. It was crowded with both his and Oikawa’s furniture, but it was a decent size, and as Hinata had promised, a _much_ more palatable color. As he dealt with the sheets, he heard the sounds of Hinata getting ready for bed, the bathroom door swinging open and shut. When he got there himself, a toothbrush was exactly where it had been promised, and soon enough Terushima was relaxing into his brand new—and much improved—bed. After a few minutes, he sat bolt upright, then went to go fish his phone out of his pocket. Digging around in his predecessor’s nightstand yielded a spare charger. He double-checked his alarm was set—he had to practice all morning before the theater opened—and relaxed back into bed. He yawned, suddenly exhausted. It had been one _hell_ of a day.

His last thoughts before sliding into sleep were of Hinata. Hinata… what Hinata had done…


	2. Hinata

“You did WHAT?!”

The cry came from more than one of Hinata’s coworkers, and he sighed. “C’mon guys, it isn’t _that_ crazy.”

“Of course it’s crazy you fucking dumbass! What the hell do you think you’re going to—”

Suga rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers at Daichi, who walked up behind Kageyama and casually muffled him with a hand over his mouth. “What Kageyama is _trying_ to say,” Suga said calmly, “is that we have some concerns.”

“He’s a good guy!” Hinata insisted. “He wasn’t even weird about the sex thing!”

Tsukishima tsked. “Honestly. We really need to work on your standards.” He yelped when Yamaguchi elbowed him in the ribs.

Nishinoya popped up from behind the reception desk. “I think it’s great!”

“ _Thank_ you, Noya-sempai.”

“Damn it, Shouyou, you know that makes me want to give you anything! I already agree!”

Ennoshita and Tanaka emerged from the back and both immediately froze. After a careful look around the room, Ennoshita sighed. “Okay, what’s Hinata done now?”

“God _damn_ it,” Hinata groaned.

Kageyama managed to shake Daichi off long enough to yell, “He asked some sketchy, random-ass stripper to move in with him!!”

“Dude!” Tanaka said, bounding across the salon for a fistbump. “Score!”

“Thank y—wait, what?” Hinata pulled back before any fistbumping could occur and frowned.

“Oh shit!” Tanaka smacked himself in the forehead. “Right. Sorry, Hinata.” He nudged in a little closer. “But for real, is he hot?”

“Hey!” Nishinoya said sharply.

“Right, right, sorry, not the point.” Tanaka slunk around the desk to join Nishinoya, who slugged him in the arm. Tanaka winced, but didn’t say anything.

Yamaguchi cleared his throat. “Guys, I think what matters here is that Hinata was trying to do something nice, but maybe it’s not so safe and we should—”

“It’s perfectly safe!”

“Who cares about nice!”

“We should drag him in here!”

“It’s Hinata’s choice!”

“Not if it’s a stupid fucking choice!

“I’ll give you stup—”

“ENOUGH!” Daichi finally roared.

The rest of the room fell silent.

“That’s better,” Daichi continued. “Now, we’re going to let Hinata talk and _not interrupt_. Hinata, go ahead.”

Hinata inclined his head in Daichi’s direction. “Thank you. Okay guys, I get that it looks bad.”

“Of course it looks bad you idiot! The last fucking stray you picked up—ow!”

“What part of ‘not interrupt’ is confusing you, Kageyama?”

“The last ‘stray,’ as you called him, worked out fine! I mean, yeah I was worried for a minute when he said he wasn’t coming back to the country, but then he sent money and everything was okay!”

Suga cleared his throat softly. “If I may?” he asked Hinata, who nodded. “I think the difference people are seeing is that you met Oikawa at university, and met this guy, well… here. Not that there’s anything wrong with here, per se,” he was quick to amend, “but surely you realize that that particular portion of our clientele, are, well…”

“What? They’re what?” Hinata said, getting angry. “Trying to survive? Trying to make a god damn living in a terrible market? And what the fuck is wrong with it anyway?! Stripping, hell, sex work of any kind, is a perfectly valid job! If you enjoy it, if you’re in a safe environment, why the hell not? What makes him different than any of us?! Because if all you’ve got is his job…” Hinata exhaled, slow and unsteady. “If all you’ve got is his job, then maybe he isn’t the problem. Maybe you guys are.”

For a long moment, no one spoke.

Then, to absolutely _everyone’s_ surprise, Asahi spoke up. “You know he’s right.” He looked around the room. “Every single one of you knows that. You knew that when we went in on this place. It wasn’t to prove we’re ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than anyone else. It was to do exactly what—Terushima? Yes?” Hinata nodded. “It was to do exactly what Terushima is doing. Providing a service.”

Daichi nodded. “Asahi’s right. But Hinata, it’s not just all about the guy, it’s also about the speed. You met him _yesterday_ for god’s sake.”

“Look,” Hinata said. “I’ll tell you guys what I told him: I know he’s not going to be either pervy or a jerk, and I know he’s got the income to pay his share. And, he promises to do at least half the chores. That’s a good roommate! I know I can last a bit longer own my own, financially speaking, but…” he trailed off and shrugged. “It’s kind of lonely.”

Daichi turned his gaze to Suga, who patted Daichi’s arm and took over. “I understand that, Hinata, I really do. But—”

“Actually no, Suga. No. You really don’t.” Hinata’s anger was seeping away into a cold, bone-deep resignation. “I know it was fast. I know it seems crazy. _And_ I know all of you are used to me being the baby. But time has passed, guys. I’m not that kid anymore.” He took a deep breath. “And if you aren’t going to respect my choices, then this isn’t a place I want to be.” Hinata was still and stone faced, but his eyes were a little wet.

There was an uncomfortable stretch of silence.

Tsukishima didn’t say anything, but walked over to stand by Hinata’s side, facing the others.

Still, no one spoke.

Tsukishima adjusted his glasses, then glared around the room. “Well?”

“Tsukki?” Daichi asked uncertainly.

“What?” he said sharply. “Hinata’s right. He’s not fifteen any more, and we shouldn’t treat him like he is. Plus…” he trailed off and shrugged. “The dude’s got a nice dick.”

“Hey-o!” Tanaka cheered as most of the room burst into laughter. (Asahi stayed quietly pleased, but still a bit nervous.)

Hinata shoved Tsukishima as hard as he could. Admittedly not that hard, but it was the spirit of the thing. “You know I don’t care about that,” he said quietly.

Tsukishima turned to put a hand on each of Hinata’s shoulders, and leaned in close. “Haven’t you ever seen a thunderstorm? Lightning never strikes just once.” He pressed a gentle kiss to Hinata’s forehead. “I’m still here, okay?”

Hinata nodded, his eyes now decidedly teary. “I know.”

“Good.” Tsukishima squeezed Hinata’s shoulder, then moved aside for Nishinoya to sling his arms around Hinata’s neck.

“Dude! It’s gonna be so great for you to have a roommate again! Ooh, and do you think he can get us a break on the entry fee at his theater?”

Hinata blanched. “What?! No! You guys can’t go see my roommate naked! It’s weird!” Tsukishima, now across the room, coughed. Hinata rolled his eyes. “You and Suga don’t count. You’re seeing him naked professionally!”

Nishinoya grinned. “So would we! It’s _his_ profession!”

“Noya…”

“Come on guys, back me up!

Tanaka jumped the desk and bounced to Nishinoya’s side. “Absolutely! It’s practically our duty!”

Nishinoya rolled his eyes. “You don’t count.”

Tanaka clutched his heart. “Babe!”

Nishinoya released Hinata to latch onto Tanaka. “Sorry, Ryuu. But you know what I mean.”

Tanaka ruffled Nishinoya’s hair. “Yeah, I do.”

“You know, I actually think it would be a good idea for us all to go see him perform.”

Everyone swung to look at Asahi, mouths agape. Daichi voiced everyone’s question. “Um, why would you want to go watch people get naked for money? I mean—not that you can’t! But um, why?”

Asahi kept calm. “You don’t have to be interested in sex to appreciate the art form. It’s a proper show! The costumes, the choreography… it just ends in nudity after a while. I guess that’s ‘sexy’ for some people.” He shrugged. “I lack the frame of reference.”

Hinata took a look around them room. “You’re all in on this?” Nods and expectant stares. “Ugh. Fine. Clearly this is happening whether I like it or not.” He sighed. “If _everyone else_ is going, I suppose it would be bad form not to show up myself.” Tanaka and Nishinoya simultaneously jumped him, cheering. “But I’m sitting next to Asahi, and no one else!” Hinata managed to shout over them.

When everyone had calmed down, Hinata cleared his throat. “Uh, one more thing, if you guys don’t mind? I… I feel like I should ask Terushima first. He hasn’t even started yet, just rehearsals, and I don’t want you guys to intimidate him. At least not until he’s been at it long enough that he can take it. And if he says no, I want you guys to honor that, okay?”

Daichi nodded. “We will.”

The remainder of Hinata’s shift passed quickly, and—relatively—without incident. There were one or two regulars that just _had_ to be told the latest salon gossip. Hinata sighed internally. Who would have thought _he’d_ be the subject of the shop gossip, however obliquely. Apparently, knowing a stripper was just too exciting for some people. He kept at his work on the accounts—he wasn’t just a pretty face at the desk—and as per usual his mind relaxed into to the soothing string of numbers. Even then, he couldn’t quite prevent his gaze regularly wandering to Tsukishima. Lightning may strike more than once, but never in the same place. He shook his head. Back to the numbers, where he was safe.

When he got home, the lights were on, but he didn’t really register it, just dropped his bag, then flopped face-first onto the kotatsu futon where it was folded up against the wall for the summer.

“Oh hey, Hinata!”

Hinata nearly jumped out of his skin. “Jesusfuckingchrist!” He was already sitting bolt upright, and he pressed a hand over his hammering heart. “Fuck.” He swung to look at Terushima. “Sorry. Yes. Hello.”

Terushima looked honestly apologetic, but Hinata was pretty sure he was still trying not to laugh. “Sorry man, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, it’s fine. I just didn’t think you’d be home yet. I thought the theater closed at midnight.”

Terushima nodded. “Yeah, it does, but the boss is letting me leave early during this week, while I’m rehearsing in the morning.”

“Oh. That’s very nice of her.”

“She’s a very nice woman.”

“Really?” Hinata asked, nose wrinkling.

Terushima laughed. “Sometimes, very. Sometimes, not at all. And other times… well, other times, it’s hard to tell.”

“Fair enough. So how long have you been home?”

“Well, I only just got started unpacking, but uh…” he scratched his chin, “that’s because I made you dinner?” he finished, voice trailing upward.

Hinata, a bit taken aback, took a proper look at the kitchen. The rice cooker was lit up, and there were two pots over low heat on the stove.

“Uh, the rest is in the fridge. I wasn’t sure when you’d be home, so…” he waved a hand at the meal in progress. “Are you hungry?”

Hinata could not prevent himself from actually raising both hands to cover his mouth as he made an excited squeak. “Oh my god, Terushima, you did _not_ have to do this! I mean, it’s amazing and I absolutely love it, but dude, please don’t think that you have to do me any favors. This apartment is just as much yours as it is mine, and you don’t owe me any—”

While he’d been speaking, Terushima had walked over to him, and he now pressed a finger to Hinata’s lips. “I didn’t cook for you because I think I owe you anything. I like to cook, and I like you, so I figured, why not combine the two? That’s all. Okay?”

Hinata swallowed audibly, then nodded.

“Good.” Terushima tapped Hinata on the nose, then headed over to the stove. “Get some cups and bowls out, would you?”

“Yeah. I mean yes! Of course.”

Quarters were cramped in the kitchen, but they orbited each other with surprising grace. Hinata completed another few tasks as Terushima instructed him, but was still operating in a bit of a daze. This was… not what he’d been expecting. He internally berated himself for the thought. He wasn’t usually this quick to make assumptions. Or this wrong when he did.

By the time they were seated with their meal on the table, Hinata was practically vibrating with joy… and not just joy. Contentment. He grinned at Terushima. “I really can’t thank you enough. This all looks amazing, and I _love_ curry rice. But when did you even have the time to make oshinko?”

Terushima looked embarrassed. “Ah, that was actually store bought. But only this time! I’m going to start a batch tomorrow.”

“You really don’t have to.” Hinata couldn’t help responding. “Honestly.”

Terushima waggled a finger at him. “Now, now. We’ve been over this.”

“Right, yes,” Hinata said, chagrined. “But thank you.”

They were both hungry so didn’t talk much during the meal, but once they were finished, Hinata was the first to get up. “At least let me do the dishes.”

“But see, I’m the one who made the mess,” Terushima said. “That’d just be rude.”

Hinata was about to protest much louder when he realized Terushima was biting his cheek to hold in laughter. He rolled his eyes. “I take all the thank yous back. You’re a dick.”

At that, Terushima did laugh. “How about a compromise? You wash, I’ll dry. That okay?”

Hinata tilted his chin up. “Acceptable.”

They were about halfway through the dishes when Hinata suddenly remembered that he had to ask Terushima about his overbearing friends visiting the strip theater. He tried to think of a delicate way to bring it up, he really did. But at a loss, he just ran with, “So, everyone at the salon wants to go to your strip theater to see you in action.”

Terushima looked surprised. “Really?”

Hinata rushed into damage control mode. “No it’s fine! Don’t worry! I told them they can only do it with your express permission, and they’ll stick to that, I promise.”

“What? Dude, no, that’d be awesome! How soon can they align all their schedules? It’d be so great if you all could come to one of my rehearsals, even. I’m almost positive the boss wouldn’t charge you anything, and it’d be like, a practice audience, you know?”

“Oh!” Hinata hadn’t really prepared for this outcome. “Uh, we can probably just open late one day this week. Daichi and Suga own the shop, so they make the rules. As long as we don’t have any standing appointments. I’ll just… text them now. I’d ask them in person, but I don’t go in tomorrow,” he explained. “I’ve got classes most of the day.”

“Ah, gotcha,” Terushima said as he continued drying. “Man, this is gonna be so great!”

Hinata dried his hands enough to use his phone and sent a message to the group chat. Just as he expected, it starting chiming with multiple incoming messages. He decided to let it sit for a while, to give them time to work out a definite answer.

It wasn’t long after the phone fell silent that they finished the dishes, and Hinata went to check his messages with only slight trepidation. “Okay,” he said as he scrolled. “It looks like they can all do the 28th! Cool, that’s… oh.” He slumped. “That’s tomorrow.” He shook it off. “But that’s maybe for the best anyway! It might be weird for you to live with someone who’s seen you perform.”

“No weirder than doing it for strangers.” Terushima grinned. “And at least I could be sure you’d still respect me in the morning.”

Hinata snorted. “There is that. But uh, is tomorrow too short notice for you to check with your boss?”

“Eh… it’ll depend on her mood. I’ll go call the theater now.”

Terushima vanished into his room, and Hinata was left standing in the kitchen, feeling a little off-kilter. He honestly didn’t know if he was relieved or concerned that he couldn’t go. Relieved for avoiding the weird, concerned for keeping his friends in check.

He wasn’t given much time to debate the matter, however, as Terushima returned with a broad smile on his face. “It’s on! Can they be there by ten?”

“Yep,” Hinata confirmed. “As long as they’re back by 12:30 at the latest, everything’s fine.”

“Sweet. Sorry you can’t make it, man. You’ll just have to come another time. I’m sure I can sneak you in.”

“Ah… yeah. Another time.” Hinata scanned the room as he desperately tried to think of a conversational segue to something less… less… something else. When his gaze alighted on Terushima’s boxes, he jumped at the topic. “Hey, so do you need help unpacking now? Much to my own surprise, I actually turned out to be pretty good at organizing.”

“Thanks, but…” he knocked on one of the boxes, and it sounded empty. “I actually finished already!”

Hinata boggled at him. “Dude, how long have you been home?!”

Terushima shrugged. “A few hours? I mean, the meal was easy, and as for unpacking… well, I didn’t have that much stuff to begin with.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Wanna see?”

“Yeah, of course!”

“It’s a little crowded,” Terushima warned him.

“With Oikawa’s junk still there, I’m not surprised. I’ll have someone come pick it up tomorrow.”

The door didn’t open all the way, clearly running into a piece of extraneous furniture, but once he’d squeezed in, Hinata could help a, “Wow.”

Terushima fidgeted. “Bad wow?”

Hinata shook his head. “No. No, definitely good wow.”

The room was utterly transformed—the only thing Hinata recognized was the bed. Two walls were now covered with calligraphy scrolls, in a variety of sizes, styles, and colors. The window was full of prisms suspended by fishing line, each one a different shape, and they diffracted hundreds of tiny rainbows all over the room. The ceiling now boasted both a network of tiny white lights, and a long metal rod supporting what had to be nearly a dozen hanging air plants in little glass terrariums.

“It’s beautiful,” Hinata said softly, then turned to see a bashful smile on Terushima’s face. “You, Terushima Yuuji, are just full of surprises.” He walked over to examine the air plants. “Where did you get them all?”

“I grew them.” He joined Hinata and patted one of the plants. “This was my first one, though. Or rather, the pot my first one came in. My parents gave her to me when I left for university.” Terushima sounded sad. “It was…” he shrugged. “It was a different time. But yeah, she’s been with me ever since. Or well, her many descendants have.” He gestured to the rest of the globes. “They’re all her pups.”

Hinata fought back a grin. “Her, huh? Does she have a name?”

“Of course she does! Passed down through generations. It’s uh…”

Hinata just gazed at him expectantly.

“Well, it’s Plant. Her name is Plant.”

“Just, ‘Plant?’”

“It suits her!” Terushima said defensively.

Hinata laughed. “Can’t argue with that.”

“Anyway,” Terushima said. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I do.” Hinata reached out to squeeze Terushima’s arm. “I really do.”

They just stood like that for a few moments, one point of physical connection, not quite looking at each other, but not quite looking away.

Then Hinata cleared his throat and said, “I’d better get going on my homework for tomorrow. Thanks again for dinner.”

Terushima stayed quiet for a moment, then abruptly turned to face Hinata and brightly said, “No problem, dude! Good luck with your school stuff.”

“Thanks!”

Hinata did not run, but walked very quickly to his room and shut the door behind him. “Idiot,” he whispered to himself. “Idiot.”

Class the next day was absolutely exhausting, particularly seeing as Hinata hadn’t managed to get much sleep the night before. He was drained enough that he just grabbed some onigiri from the conbini, and ate it on the way home. Once in the apartment, it was a challenge to make it to his room, and a miracle that he managed to get undressed enough to nap without discomfort.

When he woke up and took a bleary look at the time on his phone, he groaned. It was nearly three in the morning. So much for that ‘nap.’ He had a few notifications on his phone, but his stomach was growling, so he grabbed the phone and padded into the kitchen. He noticed the light was on under Terushima’s door and thought about asking him if he wanted anything to eat as well. Then he registered the sound. Or, well, sounds. Muffled by the door but unmistakable. _“God, you take it so fucking pretty. You know that?”_ Hinata froze. That was _not_ Terushima’s voice. _“Fuck, yeah, oh god like that. I—ahhh.”_ Okay, yeah, that was.

Forget food, forget anything, forget _everything_. He rushed back to his bedroom and closed the door as quietly as he could, though it probably wouldn’t have made a difference even if he’d slammed it. He sat down on his bed and rapidly scrolled through the messages on his phone. There were five from Terushima.

12:14am Hey man, heading out to the izakaya by the theater with some of my coworkers. Want to meet us?

12:52am Yor probably aslep, but were going to a club called

12:54am sht, accidenally hit sned. Called six of Silver.come if u wan

2:09am yooooooo, ist coool if I brung ths gyu ome?

2:41am: I hpe its finee. srrry fi not. ill cok so mcuh foodi swar

Hinata felt a little sick. He took a few deep breaths. Then a few more. Okay. He had no reason to be freaked out. He probably should have thought to address this before it happened, but it didn’t even occur to him that yeah, actually, other people sometimes want to have sex in their own homes. It wasn’t bad. It was just.. startling. That’s all. No cause for concern. He took another look at his phone, and carefully typed out a response. “Totally fine, man! Have fun!” He looked at it for a moment. Trying too hard. He replaced the exclamation points with periods. “Totally fine, man. Have  fun.” No that sounded mean. Or at least judgmental. “Totally fine, man. Have fun ;)” That sounded like he was someone who wanted that kind of fun. “Totally fine, man. Have fun ;P” Yes. Perfect. Casual and jokey. He sent it off—better late than never—and collapsed backward onto the bed. He clearly wasn’t overthinking this. Nope. Not at all.

He thought it would be nearly impossible to get back to sleep, but tucked himself back into bed and stared up at the ceiling. Everything was fine. He’d known the guy all of what, two and a half days? And he already knew Terushima was a flirt, hell, that was how this whole series of events came about. It should have come as no surprise that he was ready, willing, and able to back it up. Just because Oikawa had always preferred to enjoy the company of others away from the apartment, Hinata shouldn’t have blindly expected Terushima to do the same. He rolled over and squeezed his eyes shut. Everything really was fine. It was fine. He just needed to get some sleep. More sleep.

He didn’t know how long he tossed and turned, but eventually gave up and switched on the light. He shuffled over to his desk and he grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil. What he needed right now was matrix algebra. He put on his headphones and plugged them into his phone. Matrix algebra, and AC/DC.

He didn’t notice the time passing, but he was surprised when he looked up and saw the cool, blue-gold light that comes just before sunrise filtering in through his blinds. He yawned and stretched. He didn’t have class for another couple of hours, but sleep would probably only hurt at this point. A bath… he looked at the door, then looked at his phone. Surely Terushima’s… uh, guest, would be either passed out or thrown out by now. He wasn’t sure which was Terushima’s style. He admonished himself for that particular thought. Terushima wasn’t judging him; he had no right to judge Terushima.

Hinata switched off his light and opened his door as slowly as possible, peering around it until he was sure the coast was clear. He rinsed off quickly and sunk into the hot water with a soft groan of satisfaction. Correction: matrix algebra, AC/DC, and a bath.

There had still been no sign of life from Terushima’s room by the time Hinata left for class. He actually felt a bit concerned, like he should check on him, but shook off the urge. Surely Terushima was fine, and he’d only make things awkward.

Classes only ran until about noon, giving him an hour to get to the salon. He knew he should eat, he’d skipped breakfast, but just wasn’t hungry. His frenetic ‘up since three am’ energy was beginning to flag by the time he got to Karasuno. He yawned once, and pushed the door open.

He had, of course, completely forgotten what the others had gotten up to the day before.

He was very abruptly reminded.

“Duuuuuude!!” Tanaka yelled as he ran over and all but bowled Hinata over.

“Damn, Shouyou! Your boy there!!” Nishinoya added as he jumped onto them.

Hinata did his best to smile. “I’m sure it was great.” He wormed his way out of their slightly strangling embrace and went to drop his bag behind the desk, but they eagerly followed.

“No seriously though,” Nishinoya continued gleefully. “It was _so_ hot. Like, you have no—seriously _no_ —idea.”

“Speaking of no idea,” Tanaka jumped in, “ _I_ had no idea he had that tongue piercing! Like, damn.”

Nishinoya elbowed Tanaka in the side, then looked thoughtful. “How would I look with one of those?”

Tanaka’s entire being lit up and he turned an adoring gaze on Nishinoya. “Oh my god.”

Nishinoya laughed and walked over to sling his arms around Asahi’s neck. “How about you, hon?”

“Well, the aspect Tanaka appreciates clearly isn’t one that influences me,” he said softly. “I do think it would suit you, but keep in mind that it would require a lot of care.”

“Good point,” Nishinoya said, and kissed Asahi’s temple. “I’ll think about it.”

By this point, Hinata was almost hoping the conversation had been successfully derailed, but no, of course not.

“But back to the important stuff!” Tanaka said gleefully. “I swear, his bit as Viktor? I really thought he could impregnate me, lack of uterus and all.”

Nishinoya snorted. “Unbelievable. _Such_ a goofball.” Tanaka just beamed. “For real though,” Nishinoya said, now addressing Hinata, “he is a seriously athletic guy. Strong, flexible, incredible stamina. Honestly kind of perfect for his line of work.”

Hinata was immediately blindsided by the memory of this—very early—morning, and wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cringe. In the end he did neither, and just said, “Yeah, I bet.”

Asahi was nodding. “Not only that, but he has both incredible muscle control, and the awareness to use it effectively. Timing, shapes, motion… it creates a very aesthetically pleasing performance, and demonstrates serious skill. I was impressed.”

“I’ll tell him that,” Hinata said, and with a sigh, “Your ‘reviews,’ too.” Tanaka and Nishinoya cheered. “How about you, Yams? Any comments?”

Yamaguchi shrugged. “That dude is seriously beat up.  A _lot_ of scars. I don’t know what he did before this, but it was clearly pretty fucking dangerous.”

Hinata frowned. “That… what? He was a university student. How can that be?”

“Either he was studying Phys Ed and was _exceptionally_ bad at the practical courses, or he did something else between then and now.”

That had brought the mood down, and the rest of the day slipped past uneventfully.

When Hinata got home, he stood outside the door for a moment, not sure if he was hoping Terushima would be there, or hoping he wouldn’t. But he couldn’t stand there forever. When he opened the door, Terushima wasn’t visible, but Hinata could hear his voice coming from his room. He approached cautiously, unsure who Terushima might be talking to, but when he peered around the doorframe, Terushima was the only one there. Except, of course, for Plant’s many descendants. “Those pups are looking great,” Terushima cooed to one of the air plants as he submerged it in a large tub of water in which many of its brethren were already soaking.

“I didn’t know you had to water them like that.”

Terushima whipped his head around, not appearing startled, jut surprised. He smiled. “Common misconception. The ‘air’ in an air plant replaces the soil, not the water. I leave them in here for at least twenty minutes, maybe thirty, then lay them out to dry. I mist them between soaks, and once a month I do a big bath, about two hours.”

“What about that one?” Hinata asked, pointing to a blooming plant still in its terrarium.

“I’ll just rinse her.” Terushima placed the last two plants in the tub. “Are you hungry? I already ate, but there’s some food left.”

“Oh thanks! I’ll go, uh,” Hinata took a deep breath. “Um, first, one thing.”

“What’s that?” Terushima asked as he removed the blooming air plant from its glass home. He sidled past Hinata and through the door, carrying the plant to the kitchen sink. Hinata followed him, and as Terushima turned the faucet on he said, “Oh dude, by the way, what happened to you last night? I was kind of worried.”

“Oh, no, no I was fine. I just accidentally passed out after I got back from class.”

“Got back from?” Terushima sounded puzzled. Then the blood drained from his face. “Oh. Oh shit. Fuck. I’m so sorry man, I swear, I won’t bring anyone home without confirmation again. One of those ‘seemed like a good idea at the time,’ situations, but that’s not excuse. Especially with you the way, uh,” he stopped that sentence right there. “Seriously. So, so sorry.”

“Yeah, no, it’s fine,” Hinata said, then dragged a hand over his face. “Well, no, not fine. I just, uh, my old roommate always had sex at other people’s houses?” his voiced trailed up awkwardly at the end and he winced. “There’s nothing… It wasn’t, um, bad, exactly. I’m just not used to it so it was a big weird surprise.” He shifted uncomfortably. “There’s obviously nothing wrong with it—like, the, uh, sex part, I mean—and you should be allowed to bring people to your own home. And it’s great you tried to check! I appreciate that! But maybe, uh, next time, yeah.”

“Absolutely,” Terushima said, nodding fervently as he set the air plant on a clean dishtowel. “One hundred percent with you, full confirmation on every occasion. From now on, a perfect record.”

“I don’t need perfection, but good,” Hinata said with a sigh of relief. “That’d be, er, great. Cool. I’m just gonna, uh, eat. Now. Yes.” He opened the fridge door, but just stared into it unblinkingly.

Terushima gently moved him out of the way. “Why don’t you let me get you some dinner, okay?” He softly squeezed Hinata’s shoulder. “You just go sit down.”

And so they settled into a routine. Meals together when they could, leaving food for each other when they couldn’t. Allotting the cleaning of various rooms and surfaces with a minimum amount of squabbling. Eventually just doing each other’s laundry when they had a load to wash, because it saved both time and money. When they were in the apartment together for an evening, they equally split who got to choose what to watch or play—though it turned out that their tastes in media aligned pretty darn well, so it was rarely an issue. And sure, Terushima brought someone—or occasionally _someones_ —back to the apartment, but even that became part of the norm. If he was still home when Terushima’s guests got up the next morning, he’d casually converse with them, and when Terushima eventually appeared, Hinata would give him shit for not waking up first. And even that started feeling homey.

It all became Hinata’s new normal. His new meaning of comfort. Terushima could be an idiot, but he was wonderful, too. He looked out for Hinata. Cooked his favorite foods. Brought him tiny presents sometimes, generally with the excuse, ‘oh I was in the shop already and this just reminded me of you.’ Helped him with what schoolwork he could. Curled up with him for the occasional platonic snuggle. It all made Hinata feel warm. Content. Cared for.

Every now and then, Terushima would ask Hinata to check out something new he was trying for work, because according to Terushima, Hinata had ‘a head for geometry and an impartial eye.’ And the thing was, he did. He had a hard time not laughing the first few times they got started, took it very seriously the next few, and from then on found a balance of the two, usually managing to get Terushima laughing, too.

On one of these occasions, Hinata had been recruited immediately upon entry to the apartment, after a long morning of classes and a longer afternoon at work. He was going to say no, just because he was _so_ tired, but Terushima had pushed a plate of melon bread at him and he couldn’t say no.

He was curled up on “his” half of their sofa, nibbling on a melonpan, when Terushima turned on the music. “I don’t recognize this,” Hinata said around a mouthful.

“It’s some mashup thing.” He started scanning through the track. “The relevant bit right now is the beginning of Jonghyun’s ‘Orbit’… ah! There we go.” He paused the music. “What I’m having trouble with is getting everything off my torso.” He tugged at his suit and tie. “Usually you’d do the jacket first, then the tie, then the shirt, etc. But I want to swap the order around. So this is like, the last five seconds of pure dance, and the first minute and a half or so of the strip.”

“Mmkay.” Hinata waved a hand. “Just have at it already so I can go to bed.”

Terushima started the music playing again and rolled his shoulders, listening to the music for his cue. He did a few tight spins that took him a couple meters across the floor, landing under what Hinata was sure would be a spotlight when he did this for real. The music slid into something more rhythmic, with a sultry edge to it and a sweet-but-dirty sounding male vocalist. He yawned. Terushima undulated along with the beat, sliding his tie loose but not free. He spun slowly, lazily, and when he was facing Hinata again, the first three buttons of his shirt were undone, the loose tie now inside his collar, hanging down into the v of the shirt. He slipped the suit jacket off his shoulders, but only as far as his elbows, biting his lip as he demonstrated how tightly it bound him. “Oh man, that’s perfect!” Hinata said loudly, over the music.

“I know how you feel about that!” Terushima called back, making Hinata grin and roll his eyes. Hinata watched as Terushima unbuttoned the shirt, shed the jacket—all very dramatically, course—with a strange sort of feeling in his throat. Or maybe it was his chest. Or his stomach. He felt sort of… warm. But he tried to focus. At least he didn’t seem to be as tired as he’d been a minute ago. Terushima suddenly flung the shirt open and dropped to his knees, legs spread as far as the slacks allowed. He ran one hand down his inner thigh and the other up his chest to his throat, turning his head and arching his neck.

And Hinata’s jaw dropped. Just the tiniest bit, unnoticeable even if someone was watching, but for him, it might as well have been on the floor.

But before Hinata could even begin to process it, Terushima got his hand stuck in the loop of his tie as he tried to slip it over his head one-handed, and started swearing, sitting down on his haunches to free himself. “See?!” he cried. “I want to do a little mirror of the jacket, get the tie looped tight around my wrists, do a few moves with that. But I can’t do my wrists fast enough if the loop of the tie is too big!”

“And can’t get the tie off if the loop is too small,” Hinata finished for him, only fifty percent sure he sounded normal, his heart hammering in his chest.

“Ah, shit, you sound fucking wrecked, man. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done this right now. Go get some sleep. I’ll make you egg on rice in the morning.”

“Yum!” Hinata said, a few moments too late.

Terushima just smiled fondly. “Seriously. Sleep.”

Hinata nodded mutely, grabbed his bag, and moved at a definitely-casual pace toward his room. He managed a slightly strangled, “Goodnight!” and shut the door behind him. He carefully set his bag down next to his desk, then sat heavily on the bed. He just stared at the floor for a while, but eventually drew out his phone. It rang and rang, and eventually just went to voicemail. Shit, that’s right, he took Yamaguchi up to the mountains this week. “Kei, it’s me. Please call me back as soon as you get back to civilization. You were right about the lightning and I don’t know what to do. Call me right away. Please.”


	3. Terushima (again)

Life was good. Better than it had been in a long time. Making decent money at something he actually enjoyed at least eighty percent of the time, great apartment for the money, and hell, being able to actually feel relaxed and safe in his own home. He also had the world’s most adorable, lovable, gorgeous-as-fuck—

He shut down that thought right there. Like always. But he still couldn’t stop himself, well, taking care of Hinata. The guy was so overworked just trying to get by, how was Terushima supposed to resist spoiling him a little? And so what if nothing would ever come of it? It was worth it just to see Hinata light up.

Given their different schedules, they didn’t get to spend as much time together as Terushima would have liked. Every now and then he managed to drag himself out of bed early enough to see Hinata before he left for class, but really, he needed the uninterrupted sleep. At least once a week though, he made the effort to match his schedule up with Hinata’s well enough to have a proper dinner and spend a couple hours just hanging out. Sometimes they’d watch something, sometimes he’d read while Hinata did homework, sometimes they’d just chat. Lately they’d been gaming, on an RPG kick and taking turns with the controller. They were closing in on the end of Final Fantasy XII (which Terushima loved with a deep passion no matter how much Hinata made fun of him for being _so_ invested).

They’d only been at it twenty minutes or so when the final cinematic started in. Terushima’s eyes were glued to the screen. “I hope you haven’t forgotten my role in this little story,” he whispered along with Balthier. “I’m the leading man. And you know what they say about the leading man.” His hands tightened on the controller. “He _never_ dies.”

Once the end credits were rolling, Terushima glanced over at Hinata to see that Hinata was watching him instead of the screen. “What?” Terushima asked.

“You’re such a sap,” Hinata said, sounding fond.

Terushima’s heart fluttered, just a tiny bit. But he just raised an eyebrow and said, “Dude, do you want me to start reciting the epic list of movies you’ve cried at?”

Hinata’s cheeks pinked up slightly. “Okay, we’re even.”

“Good. Now c’mere. I need comforting.” Terushima held his arms out, and they rearranged themselves until Terushima was lying on his back with Hinata half on top of him and half supported by the back of the sofa. Hinata’s head was pillowed on Terushima’s chest, their legs tangled together, and one of Terushima’s arms was looped around Hinata’s waist. Hinata was warm as ever, but seemed a little less pliant than usual. A little more tense. In fact, he’d seemed tense a lot lately. “Hey, uh, Hinata?”

“Mhmm?”

“You’ve seemed a little… stressed, I guess, lately. Are you having problems at work, or school? And is there anything I can do?”

Hinata didn’t answer right away, but eventually said, “Yeah, things at, uh, school have been getting hard. It’s hard to keep going like everything is okay when you’re really struggling with something.”

Terushima swallowed and tightened his grip on Hinata a fraction. “Yeah. I know what you mean. But don’t give up, okay? On school, I mean.” He blew out a breath. “You don’t want to end up like me.”

Hinata pushed himself up off Terushima’s chest, high enough to see his face. “Terushima, don’t say that. There’s nothing wrong with what you’re doing! You don’t have anything to be ashamed of.”

Terushima gently settled Hinata back down. “I’m not… how do I say this?” He thought about it for a moment. “Ashamed isn’t the right word. I’ve made a life that gets me by, and I made it out of nothing. I can find something to be proud of about that. But this profession isn’t the sort that lasts as you get older, is it? And before all of this, I had a plan. I plan that would have made _everyone_ proud. My family, my friends. Myself.” He sighed. “But I’m the one who fucked that up.”

Hinata had been tracing Terushima’s collarbone with his fingers, but stilled when Terushima stopped talking. “What, uh,” Hinata started. “What—”

“Happened?” Terushima finished for him wryly. “I wondered if you were ever going to ask.”

“Sorry, I didn’t… um, it’s…” Hinata floundered.

“It’s fine,” Terushima said, stroking a thumb over Hinata’s waist where his hand rested. “Might as well tell _someone_. It’s certainly been long enough.” He felt Hinata snuggle into his side a little more and smiled, if only for a second. “There was this group. Well no, this guy, really. Because it wasn’t a group of friends, it was one rich asshole with a powerful father and a collection of sycophants. He lived in the same building as me, just down the hall.

“He would take girls out all the time, but never actually get into relationships. At first I assumed he just liked lording it over all of them, but then _she_ showed up. I never even knew her name. But it seemed like he’d been waiting for her. The ultimate pushover, the most afraid. And I could… I could hear them, you know? His screaming, things breaking, her crying. And there wasn’t enough makeup in the world to hide the things he did. But people still pretended it wasn’t happening. I tried calling the cops, but nothing came of it. Like I said, powerful father.

“I don’t know what it was about that night. What made it different than any other. But that was it. I couldn’t just let this keep happening. ‘That good men do nothing,’ right? Didn’t even knock, just kicked the damn door in. Turns out he was great at beating up frightened women, but fucking useless in a fight. Crushed his nose, cracked a few ribs, broke his right arm in two places. I’m sure there was a lot more internal damage, but I’ll never know exactly what. I took the girl back to my place. She barely spoke, but I helped her take pictures of her injuries. We put copies on six different thumb drives, memory cards, whatever I had. I told her she could spend the night, but she just shook her head, took three copies, and left.

“The next day, I didn’t even try to leave for class. I just waited. I expected the police to show up, but they didn’t. Just a man in a suit, the blackest suit I’ve ever seen. He calmly told me I had been kicked out of the university, and was being evicted. Had to be out of the building by the end of the day. I asked him why I wasn’t being arrested, and he gave me some runaround about how in all the confusion, the authorities might get the wrong idea about his client’s son.

“I didn’t have the time or resources to get everything out of the apartment. Got my computer, then mostly just took the stuff I could sell. I knew my parents weren’t even going to speak to me, let alone help. Too much of an ‘embarrassment.’” On this last word, he finally heard bitterness creep into his own voice. _A hooligan like you has no place in this family_. He swallowed. “So I figured hey, if I’m a good enough fighter to get myself into trouble, maybe I’m good enough to get myself back out of it. Just to tide me over, you know? It’s easy to get into if you’re really looking for it.

“And I was good. That was the thing. I was good enough that I couldn’t really look for anything else. Even when I wasn’t fighting, training, or sleeping, I was too beat up to apply for another job. No one wants to hire a sales clerk, or waiter, or whatever, with a black eye. But then Misaki-san found me.” He shrugged minutely under Hinata’s weight. “You know the rest.”

Hinata was quiet long enough that Terushima was starting to worry. But then Hinata snaked his arms around Terushima’s neck, flopped on top of him, and hugged him tight. “Urgd,” Hinata mumbled into his neck.

Terushima chuckled. “What was that?”

Hinata moved far enough away to be understood and repeated, “You’re good. You’re so good.”

The words were so plain, so simple. Like Hinata wasn’t making a judgement, just stating a fact. Terushima’s eyes started prickling, but not enough for tears to fall. “You’re… uh, you’re pretty good yourself.”

Hinata tucked his face back against Terushima’s neck. “Eh, nothing special.”

“Special to me,” Terushima replied before he could think it through, then winced.

But Hinata didn’t seem to find the comment anything out of the ordinary, because all he said was, “Next step: food, drinking, or sleep?”

Terushima didn’t even need to think about it. “Definitely drinking.”

They drank at home from time to time. Rarely to excess, and usually while engaged in another task. This time though, they just switched on some music for background noise, and started in on their bizarre collection of liquor. Truth or dare was silly with only two people, but it seemed like a great idea at the time. At some point one dare or another morphed into Hinata attempting to perform a piece of one of Terushima’s routines. He was very wobbly and it was probably a very dangerous thing to be attempting in his drunken state. To Hinata’s credit, he did manage to get as far as getting his shirt off— _no I did_ not _get stuck, that was an intentional pause_ —but on his next spin, he toppled right over. There were only two happy endings for that, one was onto the sofa, and one was onto Terushima.

Terushima had his breath punched out of him when Hinata landed heavily on his chest, but still instinctively brought his arms up to wrap around him. “Oof,” Hinata groaned.

“Yeah,” Terushima said. “Oof.” Hinata’s bare skin was warm, and ridiculously soft. He found himself running his hands up and down Hinata’s back before he’d even considered doing so. But it would be weirder to stop, right? Yeah, definitely weirder. “You okay?”

“Never better,” Hinata mumbled, then gently bit Terushima’s collarbone.

Terushima’s eyes went comically wide, and blood starting going places it was really not okay for blood to be going right now. His hands stilled on Hinata’s back, which just made Hinata wiggle and say, “More pets, please.”

Jesus fucking christ. Terushima was practically holding his breath as he once again started stroking Hinata’s back. Hinata hummed every time Terushima got close to his spine, and shuddered when he got close to his sides. Terushima almost felt like he was in some sort of trance, lying as still as possible while Hinata sighed and shivered on top of him. It was simultaneously the happiest he’d felt in god knows how long, and complete and utter agony. For the first time in his life, Terushima was grateful, deeply grateful, for the horror known as whiskey dick. Hinata’s face was tucked against Terushima’s neck, breath ghosting over his throat, and Terushima slowly became aware that Hinata was saying something, much too softly for him to make out. He shrugged the shoulder Hinata’s head was resting on. “Hmm? Can’t hear you.”

Hinata let out a long sigh. “Not s’posed to hear me.” He sounded wasted and sleepy, but underneath the exhaustion, he sounded sad.

Terushima frowned, and carefully turned them onto their sides. “Hey.” He tried to get them eye to eye, coaxing Hinata to look up with two fingers under his jaw, but Hinata wouldn’t meet his gaze. He slid his hand around to the back of Hinata’s neck and up to tangle his fingers in the hair just above the nape of his neck. “What is it?”

“I…” Hinata was swaying toward him, but pulled away again. “I’m… I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I should’ve…” he stopped, lower lip trembling. Terushima wanted to kiss it. “I’m not…” he trailed off into a sigh, then finally looked up at Terushima. For a while he just looked into Terushima’s eyes, but eventually leaned in close, close enough for their noses to brush. He let his eyes flutter shut again, and whispered, “I want you to fuck me,” then immediately passed out, collapsed into Terushima’s body.

What.

No.

No, but really.

What.

 _What_.

 _WHAT_.

Terushima squeezed his eyes shut, took a few deep breaths, then took stock of what needed doing. _Not_ what needed thinking about, just what needed doing. He scooped Hinata up in his arms and carried him to his bed. Thank fuck he was already—or rather, _still_ , as he remembered the dance—wearing pajama pants. He put some painkillers and a large glass of water on Hinata’s bedside table, then left, shutting the door behind him as quietly as he could. He looked around the main room. Dishes, empties, partially-full bottles that needed putting away. He took a single look at his bedroom door, then shook his head and got to work cleaning the apartment. He was wearing rubber gloves and scrubbing out the sink when he realized he might be going overboard. He finished the sink, got himself a glass of water, and headed for his room.

He just stood in the doorway for a moment. Once he was in there, he’d have to think about it. He chugged his water and went to refill the glass, then walked into his room and shut the door behind him. He set his water on the nightstand, carefully sat on the edge of his bed, and very quietly freaked the fuck out.

His head was spinning, and while a solid sixty or seventy percent of that was probably the alcohol, that left a sizable portion all for Hinata. _Hinata_. Terushima shivered all over, and collapsed back onto the bed. How could… it didn’t make sense. Hinata had said he didn’t like… that. Does he just feel bad? Like he owes Terushima something, for… for… for Terushima being nice? That couldn’t be it, could it? Surely if either of them owed the other anything…

 _God_ , though. Hinata had felt stupidly good on top of him. How would it feel to have Hinata undernea— _no_. He tried to get the image out of his head, but it was too late. Booze or no, Terushima’s dick was finally stirring, and he kicked off his boxers. _Fuck_ , he could almost see him. Skin pinked up, slick with sweat, an ankle propped on Terushima’s shoulder, panting and squirming. God, he’d be so fucking tight, he’d have to be. Terushima grabbed lube from his nightstand and slicked up one hand, groaning—probably way too loud—when he wrapped it around his dick and started stroking. Terushima knew a lot of Hinata’s sounds, even some of his sounds of pleasure—hot bath, delicious food, good snuggles. Extrapolating from there left him feeling weak and shaky. Hinata gasping, moaning, crying out, because of _him_ … Terushima squeezed his hand around base of his cock. _Not yet_ , not yet, this was too good. What would his face look like? Pink cheeks, bright eyes gone dark with pleasure. A hand pulling as his own sweat-damp hair, biting his li—no, his mouth open, letting his sounds escape. Hinata crying out Terushima’s _name_ —with a gasp, Terushima came, striping his own chest, mostly missing the sheets. He did his best to mop up the worst of the mess with a tissue, but probably failed, and then just lay there, breathing heavily, for a long time. Eventually his breathing evened out into sleep.

When Terushima woke the next morning, his first thought was, _I need to stop drinking_ , followed shortly by, _Oh shit, Hinata_.

He wasn’t really sure where to go with that second thought. Leaving his room at all sounded like a _terrible_ idea, but he’d have to eventually. In fact, he realized as his bladder made its needs known, he’d have to leave now. He braced himself for a horrifically awkward interaction, but the apartment was, to all appearances, empty. Hinata’s door was cracked open, but… no, he wasn’t inside. Terushima couldn’t help feeling a little relived. At least now he could get in a bath before he had to deal with… whatever the fallout of this shit was going to be. When he was seated and washing, he felt the dried come on his chest and was instantly, well, he wanted to tell himself he felt guilty, but really he was just turned on. The washing became a little more… thorough than he’d planned, but it didn’t take him that long to finish up and get settled in the bath.

He hadn’t been sitting there long when he heard the front door open and shut, and then Hinata saying, “Oh good, he’s gone.” Terushima’s heart plummeted, but then Hinata finished, “I can talk to you without panicking he’s somehow going to hear me.” Terushima didn’t quite know what to do with that. “Do you want anything? We’ve got some juice, and soda, and milk, and uh… and there’s food of course, I can…”

“Hush. Go sit. I’ll make tea,” someone else said.

Hinata laughed, softly. “Still taking  care of me, huh?”

“Lord knows you need it.” And actually, Terushima recognized that voice. It was that guy who does waxing at the salon! The asshole one, the blond. Terushima usually saw Suga. This one was… Tu… Tsu… Tsukishima, that’s it. What the fuck was he doing here? It was quiet for a minute, presumably while blond asshole—Tsukishima, rather—made tea. “Okay,” he eventually said. “Now. Just start at the beginning. You sounded panicked on the phone, and sorry, but when it comes to you, that sort of thing is usually unwarranted.”

“Rude!” Hinata complained. “Mm, this is good.”

“Thank you. Now talk.”

“Okay, I guess it started last, well no, really it started a few, well, actually not even that, huh?”

“Shouyou,” Tsukishima warned.

“It’s hard!”

“I’ll refrain from the obvious joke.”

“Keiiiii,” Hinata groaned. There was a pause, then Hinata said, “Sorry, sorry, okay. It… it started small. He was nice to me, you know? Not that you guys aren’t, uh, nice…”

“No, that’s fair. We love you, but we aren’t always nice.”

“It was like… it was like I wasn’t just living here, it was like I was home. Because he was here.” Terushima was starting to feel a bit overheated, and it probably wasn’t just the bath. He made Hinata feel like that? But Hinata was still talking. “He makes food for me. Like, amazing food. From scratch.”

Tsukishima laughed, _pleasantly_ , something Terushima never thought he’d hear. “For you that’s basically a marriage proposal.”

Hinata snorted. “Yeah, yeah.”

“So,” Tsukishima prompted. “He makes you food, and?”

“And it just snuck up on me! Just like last time,” Hinata sighed. “All these, you know, feelings and stuff. I guess part of me still thought I’d never want to be with anyone like that again, so I wasn’t looking for it, you know? The only person I’d ever wanted was you, and then you, you know, left.”

Terushima was not exactly sure what was going on, but was absolutely certain he was _livid_ at Tsukishima. If he hadn’t been so desperate to hear the rest of the conversation, he might have done something drastic. Something painful to both Tsukishima and his own knuckles. Hell, he still might when all this was over. But Hinata went on.

“Because who’s going to spend months or years getting me to fall in love with them, just to check if maybe yeah, I actually like _would_ like to have sex with them now that I have those feelings?” Terushima was still confused, but was now also feeling more hopeful than he’d thought possible upon waking up. “Nobody wants to go through all—oh don’t give me that look. I know you told me not to feel like that, but that doesn’t magically turn it off, does it?”

“We will be discussing this again later, but continue.”

“Okay, so, sometimes I help him with bits of his routines, right?”

“Help… how, exactly?”

“You know, with like, geometry.”

“Geometry,” Tsukishima said flatly.

Inside the bathroom, Terushima laughed under his breath. He also realized he was getting pruney, and started climbing out of the bath, careful not to splash.

Hinata laughed. “What, do you think I started doing it under false pretenses?”

“Hm. No, I suppose not.”

“So there he was, being wonderful, month after month. And then there I was on the sofa. And he was dancing, and it… uh… it wasn’t just geometry anymore.” Terushima froze.

“Use your words, Shouyou,” Tsukishima said, but he sounded more teasing than exasperated.

“God, Kei, it was so fucking _hot_ , you have no idea. I just wanna lick, like, all of him.” Terushima wasn’t sure what to do. His dick clearly had one idea, already plumping up, but his brain hadn’t really caught up. It wasn’t just some drunken fluke? Hinata actually…

“I mean, I knew he was considered attractive. Not feeling attraction isn’t the same as not being able to recognize mathematically pleasing proportions. But fuck, he’s gorgeous, and kind, and I just love him so much, but I don’t know how to fucking tell him, without making him mad because I lied to him! I mean, it was barely a lie, but it still was one! It’s just, who sits down to dinner they day they meet someone and gets into this big technical discussion of the, shall we say, ‘lesser known’ queer identities? I mean, people have a hard time with bisexuality, and that’s in the damn acronym. You say to someone, ‘I’m demisexual,’ and they say, ‘Huh?’ followed by, ‘I guess I don’t really get it.’”

Terushima heard the whole speech, really, he did, but somehow he’d gotten a bit stuck. _And I just love him so much. I just love him so much. I love him…_ He’d missed part of what was said next.

“…count, because you were the one who identified and _told_ me about it in the first place. That’s not the same thing.”

“I don’t entirely agree, but fair point.”

“But Kei, what do I do? He’s amazing, he’s _perfect_ and I want this so much, but it seems like all I can do is make things awkward. I mean, he’s bringing people back here all the time, people who seem physically pleasing are probably as attractive as he is, and I have no way to compete with any of that!”

“Shouyou, that’s not—”

“And god, last night, last stupid night. We were hanging out, and drinking, and my stupid brain just kept saying ‘I love you, I love you,’ over and over, I came so close to saying it, but I think I must have just passed out before I actually said anything.” Terushima nearly choked. Oh, Hinata. Not exactly.

Tsukishima chuckled. “If you were as grabby with him as you used to be with me after a long night of drinking…”

“Oh, I couldn’t have been!” Hinata insisted.

Terushima wasn’t sure whether to be amused or jealous. But okay, he needed to figure out some sort of exit strategy. He couldn’t just stay in the bathroom all day, hoping Hinata would either leave the apartment or stay in his room long enough that Terushima could fake arriving home. Especially without, you know, clothes. And really, there was only one honorable way to go about it. Which seemed the thing to do after a rather _dis_ honorable bout of eavesdropping. He just had to pick his moment.

“So mean to me!” Hinata cried, in response to something Terushima hadn’t heard.

“Yeah, yeah, so mistreated by the love of your life.” There was a pause. A long one. “Shit, I’m sorry. That wasn’t okay. Fuck, I’m really sorry.”

“No it’s fine.” Hinata sounded… was Hinata crying?! That sonofabitch. Sounded like a moment to him.

“Hey asshole!” Terushima said, loud, as he pulled the bathroom door open with a bang.

“Jesus!” Hinata yelped, as shock, then horror, spread across his face.

But Terushima was on a mission. He stalked over to the couch, and grabbed Tsukishima by the throat. The man’s eyes seemed composed, but his pulse was fluttering rapidly. Terushima grinned at him, mean. “Give me one good reason not to break your face in for hurting him.”

Tsukishima didn’t say anything. Which, admittedly, would have been difficult around Terushima’s grip.

“I’ll give you to the count of three,” Terushima said mildly. “One.” He pulled a fist back. “Two.”

“Because he’s not!”

The cry had come from Hinata, and Terushima darted at glance at him, “He’s not what?”

Hinata just looked embarrassed now, which actually did more to relax Terushima than it probably should have. “The uh… you know.”

“What?”

Hinata groaned. “Oh, come on! Love of my life! He’s not the love of my life.”

“Ohh…kay… does that mean he didn’t make you think he was the only guy you’d ever want to be with, and then leave you for someone else?”

Tsukishima gurgled, but Terushima just glared at him.

“Ah… that’s sort of… but no, not exactly… Honestly, Yuuji, just let him go.”

Terushima’s hand opened, if only from the surprise. “Sorry what now?”

Hinata looked even _more_ embarrassed, now blushing furiously. “Sorry! Terushima! I’ve just been calling you that when… ah, never mind. But don’t hurt Tsukishima, okay? He’s an asshole, but he’s okay.”

“High praise,” Tsukishima rasped.

Terushima turned to look at him. He was breathing hard, a hand rubbing his throat. “We gonna have a problem?” Terushima asked him. Tsukishima shook his head. “Good.” He looked back at Hinata. “Now what were you saying?”

“Ah, maybe we should let Ke—Tsukishima get going before we have the rest of this conversation?”

“Now that is an excellent idea.” Tsukishima stood, then put a hand on Hinata’s shoulder. “Sorry again, Shouyou. For all of it. Terushima, an experience, as always.” Terushima snorted. Tsukishima was walking out the door when he turned back and said, “Good luck.”

The door shut with a click.

Terushima and Hinata just stared at each other for a long moment.

Then Terushima sighed. “So in a perfect world, I’d be doing this in more than just a towel. I’d have soft music, really nice sochu, and I’d be wearing a suit. What I’ve got is the leaky faucet, your tea that’s lukewarm at best by now, and a towel.” He shrugged. “But as I think you know by now, I am all about working with what I’ve got.” He got down on one knee, the towel shifting precariously, and said, “I love you, Hinata Shouyou. I have for ages. I’ve been killing myself not saying anything.” Hinata’s eyes were very, very round. “And it’s not about sex, but it’s also not about… not sex? Okay, I should have planned how to say this better. I didn’t think I’d ever say it, but I still should have, just in case or whatever. Fuck, I’ve gotten derailed.” He took a deep breath. “I can’t promise to be the love of your life, but I swear I’ll try to be, and I’ll keep on trying until you tell me to stop.”

Hinata leaned down and slowly, softly kissed him. When he pulled back, he didn’t go far. “Hey Yuuji,” he murmured against Terushima’s lips, “don’t stop.”

The gasp Terushima let out provided the perfect opportunity for Hinata to lick into Terushima’s mouth. Jesus, why was Hinata good at this, Hinata shouldn’t be good at this, not if he only… no seriously, _how_ was Hinata good at this? This time when they parted, they were both a little breathless. “I uh, I don’t know how to do this gracefully, so um, you wanna?”

Hinata laughed softly, barely more than breath. “Yeah. I wanna.”

“In that case….” Terushima easily lifted Hinata off the sofa, causing him to make a small sound of surprise and wrap his legs around Terushima’s waist. “Your place or mine?”

“I… I don’t have things.”

“Things?” Hinata just shifted slightly in his arms, then Terushima’s brain caught up. “Oh! Things! Yes. I have got lots and lots, er, okay forget that part.”

Fortunately, Hinata just laughed and kicked a heel against Terushima’s back. “Get going.”

“Yes, sir.”

Terushima was _so_ tempted to toss Hinata onto the bed with a little bounce, but figured there would be time for that later, and he should start soft. He placed Hinata gently on the bed, then went to hang his towel on the hook on the door. When he turned around, Hinata was just watching him, wide-eyed. “What?” he asked.

Hinata swallowed. “You are just… very naked.”

“Thanks, I do it professionally.” Hinata let out what could only be called a giggle, and Terushima smiled. “Care to give it a try yourself?”

“Um…” Hinata blushed. “I’m not… you’re really…” he waved a hand at Terushima. “I mean look at you. With all your... everything. And I’m just, uh. You know.”

Terushima sat on the bed beside Hinata. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’ll tell you what I _do_ know. I know how when you smile at me, I feel so fucking warm, like I’m just going to melt into the floor. I know how your hair looks when you first get out of bed, and all I want to do is offer to brush it for you. I know how beautiful the little sounds you make when you’re happy are, and know I want to hear the ones you’d make if I could make you feel _so_ good,” Hinata’s breath hitched, but Terushima kept going. “I know how soft and warm your skin is, I know how amazing you smell, I know how fucking beautiful you are, and I know I want to spend every day for as long as you’ll let me making sure you know it, too.”

Hinata’s eyes were shiny with tears, and he looked so damn happy. He opened his arms. “Come here.”

Terushima undressed Hinata slowly, then stretched out on top of him, holding a good portion of his weight in his arms. After a few kisses, he started making his way down Hinata’s neck, loving the taste of his skin. “So,” Terushima said between kisses. “What,” kiss, “exactly,” kiss, “did you have,” lick, “in mind?” bite.

“I… I want…” Hinata made a frustrated sound. “Ugh, why is this so difficult?”

Terushima licked the hollow between Hinata’s collarbones. “If I might be of assistance, you did suggest something last night.”

Hinata stilled. “Sorry, I did what now?”

Terushima worked his way to Hinata’s ear and said, “Well, you told me you wanted me to fuck you.” Hinata gasped, loud. “Is that something you might still be interested in?”

Hinata remained frozen for a moment, then nodded mutely.

“Hey, hey,” Terushima said, stroking a thumb over Hinata cheek. “There’s no rush, okay? We can take as much time as we want.”

“No,” Hinata said, then, “I mean thanks. But I want… I want to know what it’s like.”

Terushima wasn’t exactly sure what his heart did, but it felt painful and wonderful at the same time. “You’ve never…?”

“No. Yeah. Sort of?” Hinata sighed. “Yes, technically. I tried it once, with Kei. He generally wanted to be on the receiving end of things, but I wanted to try it. It was… not great. He didn’t really know what he was doing, and lasted all of five seconds.” Hinata cautiously leaned up for a kiss and nipped at Terushima’s bottom lip. “I have this sneaking suspicion that you know what you’re doing.” Terushima’s flinch was tiny, miniscule, really, but Hinata still caught it. “No, hey, I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t give a fuck about those social mores. You’re allowed to have fun. Informed consenting adults, that’s the only standard.”

Terushima nodded, but didn’t say anything right away. Eventually he rolled off of Hinata and onto his side, an arm and a leg still wrapped around Hinata’s body. “Yeah, I guess I’ve had my fair share—okay, maybe more than my share—of experience. But this? What we’re doing now? Sex with someone I actually care about? In that department…” he trailed off and winced. “In that department you’ve got a lot more experience than me,” he finished quietly.

“Oh,” Hinata said, just as soft. Terushima was certain he’d killed the mood, and Hinata would say something like, ‘I’m so sorry,’ and they’d have a painful but important conversation. Which they would, but not right now. Because what Hinata _actually_ did, was push Terushima onto his back and climb on top of him. “In that case, let me show you.”

It stayed soft for a while. Trading kisses and caresses, slowly rolling their hips together. Then a kiss to the hinge of Hinata’s jaw made him gasp particularly loud, and Terushima suddenly registered just how much Hinata was trembling. He scratched his nails down Hinata’s back, hard enough to really feel it but not quite hurt, and Hinata made an amazing, breathy little sound. “Terushi—Yuuji, I… please, I’m gonna… _ah!_ ” he cried as Terushima got his hands on Hinata’s hips and ground them together, hard.

Terushima maneuvered Hinata onto his back again and trailed a finger up the underside of Hinata’s erection, making Hinata’s whole body twitch. Terushima groaned. “Fuck, you’re gonna be _unbelievably_ responsive, aren’t you?” Hinata just panted in response. Terushima considered reaching for the lube, but this part wasn’t gonna last long enough to need it. He licked his palm and wrapped it around Hinata’s dick—his unrealistically pretty dick—and started stroking.

Hinata’s back bowed and he cried out. He shook his head. “Don’t, I’ll… I want this to last, I…”

“Shhh,” Terushima soothed. “It will, don’t worry. I’m just taking the edge off.” Sure enough, within ten seconds Hinata was coming all over Terushima’s fist. Terushima couldn’t resist locking his eyes with Hinata’s and licking come off his fingers. Hinata squeezed his eyes shut and cursed. Terushima wiped the rest onto the sheets. If this went the way he was planning, he’d need to wash them anyway. “You good?” Terushima asked when Hinata opened his eyes.

“Good is not a strong enough word,” Hinata sighed.

Terushima kissed Hinata’s temple. “Now _that_ is what I like to hear.” At that point, he reached into his nightstand drawer. Silicon, no, there was the water-based. “So…” Terushima started. “How familiar are you with… have you done this to yourself?”

Hinata looked away. “Uh, not a lot? I don’t really masturbate that much. Like, I have a sex drive and all, but with no one to point it at, I don’t get that into it.” He shrugged. “Everybody’s different. But um… I… I kind of did it this morning? I was about to take a bath and just got a little, er, yeah. It’s… it’s nice, but I think I can’t reach quite right?”

Terushima was trying not to grin like an idiot. This adorable human being. And fuck, imagining him rocking down onto his own fingers, trying not to make noise, thinking about _him_ … it would take a stronger man than him not to immediately swoop down and capture Hinata’s lips in a kiss. A kiss that rapidly turned filthy, with tongues and teeth. “Okay,” Terushima said when they separated. “You just tell me if there’s anything you don’t like, alright?” Hinata nodded, and Terushima situated a pillow under Hinata’s hips, then grabbed the lube and slithered down the bed. He gave Hinata’s still half-hard cock a wet kiss, and Hinata shuddered.

Working Hinata open was a test of restraint like no other Terushima had experienced. Just as he’d expected, Hinata was _incredibly_ responsive, shaking and squirming on his fingers. As he worked, Terushima licked and bit at Hinata’s thighs and hips, occasionally licking a solid stripe up his cock, usually earning himself a rewarding gasp or cry. He’d been playing it safe with Hinata’s prostate, tiny brushes, just working on getting Hinata used to the intrusion. But Hinata was doing _so_ well, and when Terushima looked up to see his face, Hinata was gnawing on his lower lip, eyes shut tight. “Hey, Hinata.”

“Shouyou,” Hinata replied without opening his eyes.

Terushima smiled. “Hey Shouyou, look at me. C’mon, look.”

Hinata took a deep breath and then obeyed, opening his eyes and raising his head enough to look down at Terushima. “Wha— _AAH!_ Oh jesusfuckingchristwhatthehellwas _AAAHH!_ ”

Terushima couldn’t keep his grin locked in. “Oh sweetheart,” he breathed. “Just look at you.”

He played with Hinata for as long as he could, using his fingers and his mouth. He’d be soft and teasing one second, hard and overwhelming the next, all of it wringing the most _gorgeous_ sounds out of Hinata’s throat. Eventually, all Hinata could do was lay there, twitching and mewling.

“Yuuji,” he managed to gasp out. “Please, I want… _fuck, ahh!_ I want you, fuck me, god, _please_.”

Terushima lowered his mouth over Hinata’s cock and bobbed his head once as he slid his fingers out. “I got you,” he said, stroking his clean hand down Hinata’s flank. “This is gonna be easier if you flip over.”

Hinata shook his head. “I want you to see my face. I want to see yours.”

Terushima squeezed his hand tight around the base of his own cock. “Fuck, Shouyou.” Who knew this love shit would work so well for him? “Yeah, I can do that.” He grabbed a condom from the nightstand and wiped his lube-covered hand clean enough that he could open it without teeth. A bit more lube, then he was slowly—so fucking slowly—sinking in. Hinata’s brow was furrowed, and his mouth was open wide, but the only sound was his heaving breathing. “How you doing?” he checked in.

“Good. Fuck. You’re so. God. More now.”

Terushima huffed a laugh. “Anything you want.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Hinata groaned when Terushima bottomed out. “Oh god you’re fucking perfect; that is _spectacular_.”

Terushima’s thoughts caught on ‘perfect,’ second time Hinata had said it today, but now was not the time. “Four-syllable word?” Terushima said as mildly as he could. “Clearly I’m doing something wrong.”

“No, no, definitely not doing anything wrong,” Hinata panted, squirming beautifully on Terushima’s cock. “More please.”

Terushima kept his thrusts gentle, Hinata making breathy little noises, but with no input from Terushima, Hinata slid his leg from the inside of Terushima’s elbow up to his shoulder. When Terushima glanced at it, Hinata just smiled as best he could while still panting and said, “What, you think only dancers can be flexible?” Before Terushima could respond, Hinata continued, “Now fuck me properly. I can take it.”

“Properly?” Terushima asked, ninety percent teasing.

Hinata slowly licked his lower lip, Terushima tracking the movement. “Hard, Yuuji. Fuck me hard.”

A shiver ran through Terushima’s body. “That what you want, baby?”

Hinata arched his neck, baring the expanse of his throat. “ _Please_.”

Terushima actually growled. “Well, like I said, anything you want.”

Oh fucking hell it was good. It was almost _too_ good. Making this good for Hinata was a point of personal pride, and god damn it he was gonna make it the best he’d ever had. He reached around the sheets until he found the lube again. Dry hand went back to helping support Hinata’s leg, wet hand wrapped around Hinata’s cock. He kept his grip firm but not tight, and stroked a little faster than his thrusts. Hinata was getting loud, a string of, “ _ah, ah, ah_ ,” tumbling from his mouth, and Terushima never wanted him to stop. But they were both too keyed up to last much longer. With a particularly wicked swipe of Terushima’s thumb around the head of Hinata’s cock, Hinata came with a whine. With a phenomenal display of willpower, Terushima stilled, but then Hinata panted, “Keep going.” It didn’t take Terushima long.

After a cursory cleanup and a thorough check for damage, they curled up together, ignoring the sweat sticking them together. Against his will, Terushima started to feel kind of, well, nervous. He’d never done this part before, and didn’t want to fuck it up. What if Hinata hadn’t liked it, what if he was right now realizing that he didn’t want to do this with him? Not once in his life had Terushima been allowed to keep something good. And Hinata was so, so good. This had to be a colossal misunderstanding. Couldn’t be real. Terushima was starting to feel sick. He cleared his throat. “So uh, Shouyou, how are you… I’m worried you, uh…”

“Yuuji,” Hinata began.

“I just mean,” Terushima said over him, horrified that his voice was getting thick, and his eyes starting to sting. “Like, uh, what do you want… Do you still want to…”

“Yuuji,” Hinata tried to interrupt again, but Terushima kept going.

“I just don’t know if I’m the best person for you to… um…”

“YUUJI!” Hinata repeated, loud enough to stop Terushima in his tracks. “My turn.” Hinata propped himself up on an elbow and looked fucking heartbroken when he saw Terushima’s face. “God, Yuuji, no,” Terushima’s face crumpled. “No! Fuck! Not that no! I meant no don’t cry!” He wiped Terushima’s cheeks, clearing the tear tracks. “Of course I want to be with you. Of _course_ I do. Because I think you’re perfect. You’re—”

Terushima couldn’t stop the tears falling. “I thought you said…”  He swallowed thickly. “I thought you said it would be awful to know someone perfect.”

Hinata smiled, so fucking sweet. “You didn’t let me finish. You’re not perfect full stop.” He kissed the corner of Terushima’s mouth. “What you are is absolutely perfect… for me.”

Terushima just stared at him for a long moment, then abruptly asked, “Can I comb your hair?”

Hinata kissed him again. “Of course you can. But uh… maybe not right now?”

“No, no, I didn’t mean now.”

They just looked at each for a moment, Hinata fond, Terushima embarrassed. Then they both started laughing.

“Jesus fuck, I am so sorry I just freaked out that bad,” Terushima said through his chuckles.  “Did not see that coming.”

“No, it’s fine, it saved me having to do it,” Hinata joked.

“Pfffft. What a pair.”

“A _great_ pair, I’m sure you mean,” Hinata said with a poke to Terushima’s chest.

“Of course, dear.”

Hinata snorted. “Yeah, yeah.” He sighed. “We should probably go clean up for real.”

Terushima nodded. “And wash the sheets.”

“Yeah.”

They didn’t move.

“Maybe in a bit,” Hinata amended.

“Yeah,” Terushima agreed. “It’ll still be here.”

“And we’ll still be here.”

“I suppose we will, won’t we?”

“Of course we will,” Hinata said matter-of-factly. “This is our home.”

A broad grin spread across Terushima’s face. “Yeah,” he said softly. “I guess It is.”


	4. Epilogue

They were in the main room, Terushima on the sofa, and Hinata sitting on the floor with a truly excessive number of sheets of paper spread out like a sea around him, covered in equations to arcane for even Terushima.

From his perch on the couch, Terushima was, ‘supervising,’ which mostly meant distracting Hinata and eating snacks. He was currently expounding on his potential career moves once he stopped dancing. “What do you mean, ‘no?’ I’d make a _great_ astronaut.”

Hinata hummed, half listening. “Yes, dear.”

Terushima sighed. “Okay, okay. How about… ooh! This is a good one! Professional dog-walker.”

Hinata snorted. “Dogs hate you.”

“That’s just because they don’t know the real me!”

“If you say so,” Hinata replied. Then he suddenly looked up from his work. “Uh, hey. Um, here’s a thought.”

He didn’t say anything right away, so Terushima prompted, “And that thought is?”

“Well, do you, uh, maybe… Would you be interested in working at the salon? It’s just,” he waved a hand at the papers surrounding him, “I’m almost done with school, so I’ll be moving on to that ‘real job’ my mother keeps talking about, and they’ll need someone. It’s a good job, and if you ever want to go back to university, or try working somewhere else, they’d keep you on with whatever hours work.”

“Would they…” Terushima wasn’t sure how to phrase the question.

But Hinata understood, and chuckled. “Yeah, they’d give you shit at first… well actually no, some of them would, but Mom would be nice, so would Asahi, not sure about Dad, but he’d do whatever Mom says, and Tanaka and Nishinoya would probably build you a fucking shrine or something… point being, those losers are like family to me. And you are, uh,” Hinata cleared his throat. “It would be nice for you all to like each other. But don’t feel any pressure to take the job! They can find someone, and I’m sure there are a ton of jobs you’d rather have, I just, um…”

Terushima just smiled. “You know actually, that sounds perfect.”

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, but how did Hinata save Kuroo’s life, you ask? Well, because you were kind enough to read all the way down to here, I’ll tell you. He pulled him out from under a falling piano. No don’t laugh, for real. The space where the izakaya is now used to be a music shop, but the owner went bankrupt, so Kuroo got both the space and the inventory dirt cheap, and then did a HUGE remodel. So one day Kuroo is overseeing the move out of all the music shit, so it can be donated or sold. Pretty much everything is in this giant-ass truck, but the movers are still getting a couple things. So Kuroo’s standing outside the back of the truck, he’s on the phone, and when he hears yelling he ignores it, because the movers seem to hate each other or something, one always whining, one always yelling. But really, the fucking baby grand has snapped its straps and is slowly but surely rolling right at him. At this very moment, and by pure dumb luck, Hinata is walking down the street toward him, and hears all the racket so looks up from his phone and there’s this idiot on his phone with an ACTUAL PIANO rolling at him and with a yell, Hinata legit runs and bodily throws himself at Kuroo, hard enough to get both of them out of the way. And at first Kuroo is pissed and confused, because there was just SO MUCH NOISE and the movers are idiots and this is taking forever and some shrimp with freakishly orange hair LITERALLY JUST TACKELD HIM TO THE GROUND WHAT THE HELL. Then he sees the movers at the lip of the truck looking horrified, and the totaled piano uncomfortably close to his person, and realizes what just happened. He picks his phone back up, tells Kenma he’ll call him back and that he loves him, always has (they have a VERY long talk about that later, which ends happy), and gets back to his feet, helping Hinata up, too. Before he can say anything, Hinata laughs and says, “Hell of a meet cute.” Kuroo laughs, too, and says, “You’re not wrong. Do you drink?” “Yes…” Hinata answers, v confused. Kuroo jerks a thumb at the shopfront. “I’m opening a bar here. You drink free, the rest of your life. Or until the bar folds.” Hinata wraps an arm around Kuroo’s shoulders (well, waist, but let’s pretend) and says, “Piano-dude, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
> 
> THE END.


End file.
